That's My Spotlight!
by KizunaUzumaki
Summary: AU! Judal is sick of his "colleagues" incompetence. Aladdin feels she is missing something, but she doesn't quite know what. The two talented entertainers cross paths and are in for an interesting ride.
1. I'm Done

Chapter 1: I'm Done

***Judal***

Judal was tired of all the crap dancers the Al Thamen label provided him with. They all thought they knew better than him. It's his fucking music for crying out loud! He wrote all of it during traveling days on his European tour. But the dancers though their versions of the rhythm and movements were the best way. They had these annoying 'I'm better then you' attitudes and he really just didn't want to deal with a bunch of people who had those attitudes when they couldn't even dance half as well as him.

What sucks was that the dancers weren't even the half of it. His manager kept making him work with rappers, none of whom appreciated his talent, or the stupid, no-talent pop stars whose music was all auto tuned shit, completely computer generated. He was sick of all the bullshit. They wanted to use his name to get bigger paychecks. As if all this crap wasn't enough, they wouldn't let him preform with any of the artists he requested. He hated the Al Thamen, they were using him and he hated being used.

He wanted to switch to a different label, but Kou was working too closely with Al Thamen for his taste and that man-whore Sinbad had denied his request to become part of the Sindria Label.

To say Judal was pissed was an understatement. After the cluster-fuck that today had been, he was done. So done. He told Ithnan he was taking a break for a while. Said he needed to work on lyrics for his next few albums, get inspired, wanted to take some time to take care of his health. He made up an annoying long-and to his chagrin, mostly true-list of excuses and left without listening to the other's reply. He turned his back on what he had spent years to build up. He wanted to work with people who did more than record themselves talking and call it music. He wanted to be the best, and Al Thamen was not working well with him at the moment. The shit they had him doing did not broadcast his unrivaled talent and ability to the world, and that really pissed him the fuck off. They were going to ruin him.

To make matters worse, that idiot Ithnan had gotten him hooked on some shit drug that he really didn't want to take anymore. He had been drinking more the past year-no, he corrected himself, two years now-and between the two poisons, his body had become a complete and total wreck. He had no stamina and he felt sick all the damn time. He packed up his hotel room and left, calling a taxi and ordering the driver to "take me the hell away from this shithole."

He was thinking about going to the house he had in Italy, or maybe renting a place in France. He thought about traveling from country to country for a while. He really just wanted to get the hell out of New York and he didn't really feel like going back to LA for an extended period of time either. Whenever he did he tended to run into the man-whore. He didn't want to deal with any more idiots for a little while. After a while of thinking through his options in the back seat of the cab he instructed the driver to take him to the airport.

Going out of the country meant effort and thinking about languages he only knew the bare minimum of - if he was going to leave the country he would end up in Italy and despite having a house there his Italian really sucked, why he hadn't gotten a house in France where he knew the language he had no idea- he did stupid things while under the influence- and there was no way in hell he was going to visit Russia after the last time he had been there, a crazy fan had almost kidnapped him- and to be perfectly honest he just wasn't in the mood for a flight that long. So, he purchased a ticket to Las Vegas. The flight was uncomfortable. The woman sitting next to him (probably mid-twenties) kept staring. He pretended to sleep hoping she would stop, but she just ended up being more annoying; in the end he had written a note on his napkin and signed the bottom slipping it to her before he exited the plane-it went something along the lines of 'Dear Seatmate, it isn't polite to stare, some people find it extremely annoying. ~Judal.

He spent a week in Vegas planning out his next few moves. First stop, San Diego, then to Hawaii, onwards to Tahoe, ending his little adventure in Portland, Oregon before he dragged himself to LA and back into the big business. His fan base was solid and he figured some time away from the stage would leave them on the edge of their seats for the next thing he released.

***Aladdin***

Aladdin was tired. Traveling all over Australia to give concerts then rushing back to the U.S. left her exhausted. Sinbad had even insisted that she 'keep the ball rolling,' he wanted her to start recording for a music video tomorrow morning at seven in the morning. She hadn't even gotten home until after midnight. By the time she had gotten ready and fallen asleep it was two in the morning.

Recording day started with getting up before-the-freaking-sun. She was so tired. She really wanted to sleep. But no, she had to go learn brand new choreography and block scenes and get makeup and costume and hair done in twenty different styles. She was ready to take a nap before the actual recording even began. She sighed, thinking about the days when she had just been a girl obsessed with the arts. She used to draw and paint everything she saw, she went to all the school dances because she loved to dance all night, she sang while her friends played music at a few different small restaurants and cafes near her apartment. She had preformed in several plays with the theater group she had joined.

As she heard the director call for places she sighed again, yeah she missed the old days. She loved singing and preforming in front of huge crowds and she was really happy that so many people liked her music, but she missed the freedom she had had before she had become a professional. She pulled enough energy out of her reserve stores and did her best throughout the day.

When all the recording was over Ja'far and Sinbad walked over to her, the former giving her a copy of the schedule he had organized for her since her usual manager was on vacation with his girlfriend-it was completely booked from six in the morning until nine at night for the next six weeks, 'Are they crazy?!'- as the latter congratulated her on a job well done. She thanked them before quickly excusing herself saying she was tired and hurrying off to the dressing room that had been prepared for her.

It would take her almost four hours to get home from this shooting location. She was tired. She kept trying to ignore the fatigue but it was just too much, she was pushing too hard. As she removed the makeup and costume and undid the elaborate hairstyle, she thought about what she had accomplished over the past year and a half. Sinbad had watched one of the musicals she was in and insisted on having dinner with her. Not long after she had signed onto the Sindria Label with Ugo as her manager. She had been successful since then, gaining popularity rather quickly.

Although she was supposed to be a singer/actor combination from what they had originally discussed, which meant that she was able to create music and act in movies or television shows produced by Sindrian Entertainment, they had yet to have her do any acting. It made her a little sad. She missed acting. They wouldn't even let her post on her blog without having the post checked by someone in the company to make sure that it didn't 'give anything away.' She loved singing, it's just that recently she had felt as though she was missing something really important and she had a feeling it had something to do with the fact that she had little time to do things with her friends like she used to. Her only focus was on her work, not that she had minded at first. Not to mention that all her education was online now. She didn't have time to go to school anymore, she was too busy with work, so she had to squeeze in all the learning she could in her very limited free time. Let's just say that even though she was an extremely quick learner and had always loved learning new things keeping up with all the work was hard. She was extremely behind where she should have been.

A yawn escaped her as she left her dressing room in a fitted tank top and baggy sweat pants. She probably should have worked on homework on the ride home but she was too damn tired. In fact, she probably would just sleep at her apartment again, even though she really wanted to see her parents. It was in a more central location so getting around to do work was easier from there than from her parents' house. Since her mother was ill and constantly bed-ridden and her father was a workaholic, it hadn't been all that hard to convince them to let her live in an apartment closer to where she worked, it was a really safe area and the buildings security was great so that wasn't a problem and she had been almost entirely self-sufficient since age twelve. She hadn't been to her parents house since a few weeks before she had left for the Australian tour, almost a month ago.

She fell asleep in the car as Sharrkan drove her home. Instead of waking her up he just carried her to her apartment, opened the door with the key she had given him-after having similar incidents to this one happen several times before- and tucked her into bed before scribbling down a quick note to her and leaving it on the table for her to find in the morning, locking the teen into her house and leaving her until the next morning.


	2. Poisons and Disorders

***Judal***

After the first few lessons Judal discovered that he really despised playing the drums. He could appreciate the sound they made and their use in creating well-balanced music. That didn't stop him from disliking the instrument given his preferred type of playing. He couldn't vary the music as much as he wanted. He wanted to be able to create the short fast sounds, as well as long, drawn out smooth sounds. The drums didn't allow him to do that. He continued the lessons until he knew the drums well enough to take his education onto himself, but he despised all of the lessons and all the practicing he forced himself to do.

He spent his days trying to distract himself from the withdrawal and the cravings. He forced himself to stop the drug first, using alcohol to try to dull the effects. It didn't really work so he just forced himself to stop both of them. It was excruciating. He went sailing, looking at the water and enjoying the wind rush threw his long, black hair. It didn't help for long. He walked along the beach, he went shopping, he swam in the ocean, but none of it held his interest for long, and once he lost interest it was almost impossible not to give in to his cravings. He didn't though, looking at it as a new type of challenge, willing himself to get away from the substances he had been poisoning his body with. It was hard, but he was doing it, he was detoxing.

***Aladdin***

It was a hard six weeks. Even after Ugo came back from his two-week vacation with Paimon, things didn't really get easier. But she made it through somehow, Ugo making sure she ate and slept and Sharrkan making sure she got everywhere she needed to be. At the end of the six weeks she was more exhausted than she had ever felt before, and she felt empty. Writing lyrics and singing only helping lift her spirits momentarily. Ugo noticed and requested that Sinbad give her a few days off to rest after all the work she had done. She had learned new choreography almost every day, getting ready for a big festival Sindrian Entertainment was going to host in a few months. She had recorded a new album and two singles she had written while in Australia. She had worked with a few other artists by cooperating with then in smaller performances in the area. She needed a longer break then the three days Sinbad had allowed however Ugo would take what he could get.

Aladdin took the first day of her break to catch up on sleep and to indulge in her favorite foods. With so much going on she had been eating mostly whatever had been quickest and easiest to eat. Celery and peanut butter, crackers and cheese, an apple here, a protein bar there, her diet recently had been a real mess. And she knew she needed to watch it. Sinbad wouldn't be happy if she got any heavier, he already wanted her to loose weight. It wasn't like she was overweight, but celebrities were expected to look like the ideals of society and according to Sinbad and several others, she was pushing it.

She lost her appetite. She didn't want that kind of ridicule anymore. She was so sick of all the negative comments. She pushed her plate away and started looking through her phone, looking for news about her favorite singer who had mysteriously disappeared after-in her opinion- a rather disorganized performance with a popular rapper. Nothing. None of his social media held any new information about the singer. She frowned. How annoying.

She changed into workout clothes and made her way to the buildings gym, determined to burn off as many calories as possible. She needed to eat less. If she was thinner then they wouldn't be able to make any snide remarks about her weight. She sent the entire afternoon in the gym using the treadmill, the bike, the rowing machine, and going through several rounds of weight machines to work on her arms, legs, back, and stomach muscles. She did sit-ups, crunches, push-ups, squats, and planks. She jumped rope and did jumping jacks. Every few minutes she drank water, making sure to stay hydrated. She had made that mistake once on the day of a concert and it almost turned out horribly. She worked in the gym until her body was shaking, her muscles unable of continuing the abuse. She walked slowly back to her room, taking the stairs instead of the elevator. She forced herself to eat salad for dinner, adding chicken for protein and using lemon juice as a dressing. Not the best salad she had ever had, but dressing had a lot of calories and lemon juice was supposed to help balance a person's pH levels which assisted in loosing weight. After eating the bland meal she crawled into bed without bothering to change or shower and passed out.

She woke up in the middle of the next morning, sunlight bothering her eyes and refusing to allow her any more rest. She dragged herself into the shower to wash off the grimy feeling she had from yesterday. She pulled on a bathrobe after she finished and walked out of her room and towards the kitchen in time to hear the doorbell ring. She opened the door and found Ugo with coffee cups in hand. She moved out of his way and he let himself in, moving to the kitchen and setting down the two coffee cups before pulling out ingredients to make the two of them breakfast. He noticed that she didn't eat much, but knew better than to say anything. Aladdin had always been rather sensitive about her weight. The recent comments from Sinbad, photographers, and costume designers had only made the young girl more self-conscious and worried about her body. Ugo really wished that she wouldn't worry about it. She was perfectly healthy.

The last day of her break was very much the same as the first two. Ugo made her breakfast, she did school work for a while until her focus began to drift, at which point she made her way to the gym and forced herself to go through another monstrous workout. That night she just didn't eat dinner.

Hello Hello Hello!

In case there was any confusion I have Aladdin and Judal's point of view of what is happening with them at relatively the same time so you can see both of them. It is going to be a few more chapters before they meet, but then things will be really cute and fun!


	3. Beginnings of Recovery

***Judal***

In Hawaii he played music alongside the locals. It was different from how he usually played. It was interesting. He had wanted to play with them and dance alongside their professionals when he had had a concert here a year ago, but he hadn't had enough time, not that his manager would have let him do it anyway. He spent his time studying it all now.

He started using the gym in his hotel. It was slow going. His muscles all protested, screaming to stop. The first few weeks he continuously had to run to the bathroom to throw up anything in his stomach. His body was a wreck. But it was getting better. Every day he could do a little more before something made him stop. He was determined to have his body back in top condition by the time his little break was over. That meant by the time he returned he would have fans fainting over 'leaked' photos of him running shirtless, the six pack he had lost since he had started his little drinking problem back in all its glory.

He went scuba diving and snorkeling, returning to his room to sketch the underwater beauty he had seen. He hadn't done much art since joining Al Thamen. His work still looked ready to be put in a manga or a cartoon, still missing the lifelike quality it always had. Now even more so actually. That kinda sucked. Whatever.

***Aladdin***

Ugo found a way to schedule her work to give her a little more free time. She had no idea how but she really appreciated it. She missed her friends and took most of the free time to go out with them. She, Alibaba and Morgiana went to lunch and dinner together several times. One afternoon she had entirely off so the three of them, joined by Hakuryuu and Kouha (both Aladdin and Kouha in disguises so they weren't recognized by anyone) went to an amusement park.

The time she spent with her friends helped bring back her smiles, which relieved Ugo. He had been worried. She wasn't completely back to normal, but she seemed better. She still wasn't eating much; in fact he was sure she was eating only when he was around to keep him from being upset. Whatever other free time she had she spent in the gym. She was determined to give people as few reasons to complain as possible. It was starting to work. She had lost the ten pounds Sinbad had been talking about since the Australia tour, more actually.

She was still tired, but she began sleeping better after spending time with her friends. She wasn't catching up with any schoolwork, but at least she wasn't getting any further behind.

And so the days went by.


	4. Lyrics and Notes

***Judal***

Before he moved on to Tahoe Judal noticed a relatively new name landing a spot in the top 10 charts once again with a song from a recently released album. The newbie was, in fact, second only to the hit single he had recorded shortly before he left. He smirked. The newbie was doing well-and didn't sound half-bad either-but Judal was still a step ahead, even without having done anything active in the business for roughly four months. But still, interesting.

In Tahoe he walked into a house right on the lake. The water was beautiful he had to admit. He had originally planned to avoid this house and rent a cabin, but he couldn't find one he liked so he came to his parents old summer house, which they had left to him in their will, along with all of their other belongings. His parents had taken him here every summer before they had been killed in a car accident with a drunk driver. Miraculously, he had escaped unscathed. He had no idea how. He had been passed on to a rather abusive uncle. So he worked his ass off and signed with Al Thamen. And spent his teenage years making music. He rolled his eyes. None of that mattered anymore. For now, he needed to get his shit together.

First off, he unpacked the things he had brought with him. His ukulele and guitar were set to lean against a wall in the music room. He looked around. The grand piano stood under a cover in the center of the room. All of the instrument cases were in the same positions he remembered leaving them in the last time he had been here. And it was all covered in a think layer of dust. He shook his head, turning around and pulling out his phone to call a cleaning crew because he sure as hell wasn't going to clean this place up, and he definitely wasn't going to live in a huge house that was filled with dust and cobwebs. No, that wasn't happening, it would drive him insane. He gave up on unpacking until the house was clean. The maids arrived half an hour later and began working quickly; dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, mopping, sanitizing, washing, and polishing the house to perfection. It still took them all day to get the house into running order. He paid them and they left.

He walked through the house, satisfied with their work. They had been very thorough. He would have to keep them on as the regular team to keep the house maintained during his stay. He flopped onto the freshly made bed in the master bedroom, staring at the ceiling and thinking. He was bored. There was no drama here to entertain him. There were no fans throwing themselves at him in hopes that he would take a liking to them. No stupid dancers or crappy musicians or singers to piss him off. It was nice, but it also sucked. There was a reason why he was in this business. It was fun to watch all the drama unfold around him, to instigate it. He sighed.

The calm of the past few months was boring, although probably needed. He had broken himself of his bad habits. It had been hard the first month; seemingly impossible the first week, but he had done it. And every day after he had gotten over the shaking, stomach-churning phase had been easier. The withdrawal from the drug had been a royal pain in the ass; he couldn't sleep, moving hurt like hell, he had a fever, and he couldn't stop puking. He forced himself to get up and drink water and walk around as much as his wrecked body could. After the first week, he had felt better.

Now that he was in Tahoe, he started working out more. His muscles and body had completely protested. He ignored them. He downloaded several apps on his phone. Every day he walked into the gym in the house and began a new set of exercises based on what muscle group the app had planned for him to work on that day, in addition to the cardio routine he had designed for himself. It hurt. His muscles were extremely weak from the drugs effects and the alcohol abuse. He ignored it. He wanted to get back in control of his life. He was starting with this. If it hurt, well, life sucked.

He used another app to keep track of what he ate and drank. He documented everything. It wasn't so much to count calories as it was to make sure he wasn't eating to much crap. He drank eight glasses of water a day, made sure to eat mostly fruit and vegetables, protein, and minimal carbs. He stayed away from pasta, bread, and rice as much as possible, cutting the portions he ate of them in half and replacing it with healthier choices, peaches mostly. He ate a lot of peaches.

He spent his days differently. He went hiking on several different trails, enjoying the mountain air and view. He spent time at the lake. He pulled out all of the old equipment in the garage. He inspected everything for any sign of damage but it all seemed fine. He went kayaking on the lake. He brought out the little boat and sped along the water. He biked around the lake. He shopped, ate at overpriced restaurants, and got massages. He played his instruments, dedicating several days to each. He wrote lyrics for new songs that were sure to be popular. He played around with different melodies.

He brought himself the rest of the way back from the hellhole he had been getting himself in. Every day he was able to control, every time he made a decision, every time he did what he wanted, he got a little bit more normal. A little bit less frustrated. And he continued to do so for several months.

***Aladdin***

Aladdin continued to spend as much time with her friends as possible. The more time she spent with them the more she realized she had been lonely, still was lonely. They were great, and Ugo was great, and when she saw her parents they were great, but none of them took the loneliness away. Her music filled that hole temporarily, but it didn't last. And every time she slowed down in preparation for the end of a performance she felt the hole grow bigger than before. She felt as though she was missing something, like she had lost something but she didn't know she had ever had it so she didn't know how to get it back.

Instead of getting depressed she kept pushing forward. She found ways to keep herself busy so she didn't focus on the emptiness. She wrote more lyrics, she spent time with her friends when they weren't at school, she worked on her schoolwork. She worked on melodies to go with her lyrics. Normally, she wrote the lyrics to songs and someone else worked with her to write the music. It wasn't like she couldn't write the music too, but Sinbad insisted that she turn out as many songs as possible, and it was faster to have someone who knew the instruments well write the music. She started working on the piano again. She stumbled at first, not having practiced in over a year. It took some time to get her fingers to move over the keys the way she wanted. Although she wasn't very good at it, she was determined to write every part of the next album, even if it took a little longer than normal. Sinbad could be a little patient. The music never really sounded exactly the may she wanted if someone else wrote it. Sinbad always found a way to convince her that it was close enough, that what she was looking for was perfection, and perfection couldn't be achieved.

Sinbad started taking her out to do things. They went to lunch, got ice cream,-which she viciously ran on the treadmill later to recover from-watched the premiere of a new movie Sindrian Entertainment had just finished. Aladdin found it a little weird. Sinbad should have been spending time doing work as the CEO of Sindrian Entertainment, not spending time with her. She ignored it, passing it off as him wanting to avoid paperwork or something. Sinbad intended to keep his company's most popular singer happy.

Aladdin kept an eye out for news about her favorite singer/musician, but nothing new came up. The big news as of late was the Al Thamen had taken over Kou, joining the two under the Al Thamen name. Aladdin wrinkled her nose, the Al Thamen had kept Kouha super busy recently. Normally he was the one she could see most often, because he didn't go to school either. When wanting to spend time with her friends it was so annoying that she always was free during the time that they were at school, so she spent quite a bit of time with Kouha who had a similar problem-well, not anymore it seemed.

She continued on like this for several months, hiding the loneliness to the best of her ability, convincing those around her that she was okay, just tired.

* * *

Hello!

I have a wonderful reviewer out there who has requested more characters and different pairings. I am more than happy to do so. More characters are coming up and will get more time; I just wanted to start off with Aladdin and Judal. Is there anyone specific you would like to see with another character paired with or with an original character? If it's an original character do you have any ideas for appearance and personality or do you want me to make it up?

Thank you for reading so far. More chapters are coming soon.

Until next time!

-Kizuna


	5. Piano and Harp

***Judal***

Judal packed up his things. He brought his guitar, his laptop, and a bag full of cloths to Portland with him. He was staying in some fancy, expensive hotel. He wanted to spend a little time in the city before he called Ithnan and returned to Al Thamen. In the course of the ten months, he had rid himself of his drug addiction, stopped drinking, whipped his body back into shape, written and notebook full of music, and turned nineteen. He had also gotten extremely bored. He missed all the drama that came along with being a celebrity.

He had heard about a really nice music store that he wanted to visit. He wanted to see if they could get him a decent harp and have it sent to the house in Tahoe. The harp he had in Italy was crap, and on top of that it was in Italy, not easily accessible.

The music store was big. It had all kinds of instruments advertised, as well as tall bookshelves full of sheet music, books for piano beginners, manuals for instrument care, and on and on. He walked through the store, taking it in. He was impressed, but his mood was dropping. When he had first seen all the instruments he had hoped they would have a harp, but he couldn't see one. He started thinking about going up to a salesclerk rather than roaming the store, no longer hopeful that he would be able to play until he reached the back corner of the store, where a beautiful harp stood. It was gorgeous.

Judal admired it for a moment before he moved to sit on the stool and his fingers found the strings. He played. The sound coming from the other people in the shop quieted. The other customer who had been playing with a guitar at the front of the store- testing it while a clerk rambled on about why it was a good choice- stopped, the two employees talking about some local band quieted, the woman he heard talking on the phone quickly hung up, one of the employees turned off the music going through the speakers-which had been playing one of his songs. The harp's sound filled the room. No one moved toward the sound, just waited and listened to the relaxing, angelic sound. Judal transitioned smoothly from one song to the next, a classical peace first, then a song from that popular newbie-not her most popular song but probably his favorite of hers, not that he would admit to liking it-to a piece he had written himself. Then he stood up planning to buy the instrument and send it to be added to the music room in Tahoe, but he was interrupted. A girl-the woman on the phone-looked him in the eye and he stopped. She had run to the back of the store as soon as he had played the last note.

He knew her. The blue eyes and hair were unmistakable when he was facing them straight on. He had seen her from the back and she had been murmuring so quietly into her phone that he hadn't realized who she was. From the look that flashed through her eyes she recognized him too. Interesting. What would she say? He took in the blue braid that hung down her back, her face clear from the ridiculous makeup she was usually put in for her performances and videos-not that he would admit having watched them on YouTube- and the white summer dress she had on as he waited for her to say something. To his great annoyance she just stared at him for a moment. He arched an eyebrow and was about to comment about how rude staring was when she finally spoke.

When she finished he smirked. She was different from how he had expected. How interesting.

***Aladdin***

It was Aladdin's day off. She wanted to go get a few piano books. She wanted to get better, and she wouldn't be able to do that with the beginner books she had-she already had them mastered. She invited Kouha to go with her, but he was in a limo with his two brothers and sister on the way to a filming location. Kouen was a popular model and actor, Koumei seemed to prefer to remain behind the scenes acting as a manager to the family members, Kougyoku was just starting to get into the business so where she would focus had yet to be determined, and Kouha went back and forth between actor, model, and singer. Al Thamen seemed to want to do a movie using all the red-headed Ren family members.

Aladdin sighed into the phone. She would just have to go by herself. Solomon had needed Ugo's help today and it was a Thursday so it wasn't like she could invite any of her friends who were still in school. She wished Alibaba's and Morgiana's parents had allowed them to sign on to the label with her, she had convinced Sinbad to take them on as a group at the dinner they had had after he first saw her perform.

"It's fine Aladdin! Don't get all depressed, I'll just stay on the phone with you."

"Thanks Kouha. So what's the new movie about? And I thought you had decided to focus on modeling for a little while."

"I do want to focus on modeling, but Al Thamen didn't really give me much of a choice. They wouldn't give me any modeling jobs, they refused to allow me to do any until I finished filming for the movie. I don't really know that much about the movie actually. I only agreed to do it this morning, I haven't even gotten a copy of the script yet. It's really annoying."

Aladdin continued listening to Kouha complain about Al Thamen and its rules. By the time he was done she was at the music store.

"So why a music store?"

"I want to get some piano books. I'm not as good as I want to be."

"I see. How is the new album coming along? Normally you'd be done by now."

"Well, you're right, it's taking me longer then normal. I wasn't to write all of the music this time too, not just the lyrics. It's taking me longer then normal, but I really want to get better. I'm never going to get better if I keep letting someone else write the music for me. That's part of why I want to get the piano books. I want to practice more piano so that the next time I want to write an album the music part will be easier."

"I see."

"You keep saying that."

"Soooo. New topic. How did the date go?"

"How did you know about that?!"

"I hear things. I have eyes and ears everywhere. He's a model right? His name sounded familiar."

"Um, yeah. He's a model. The new Abercrombie one. Sinbad said it would be good if I went on a date. Something about a girl not having kissed someone by my age being a crime or something."

"Aladdin do not, and I mean do not, date Abercrombie models. If I had known I would have warned you that-"

"They are complete and total jerks? Yeah, I got that. It took him five minutes to call me fat. He said my name was stupid too."

"Oh Aladdin I don't even know where to start. First, understand that Abercrombie models are the attractive people who weren't chosen for the summer beach movies. They are bitter. Don't even think a word he said was right. He was after your fame. They did it to me too. Next time I get to plan your date. Okay? How did that date even get set up?"

"Sinbad introduced us at lunch one day. We were at the same restaurant. When Sinbad went to get his car the guy asked me out. Did I mention he insisted that I pay? Not half and half, but the whole damn thing. I really don't like that guy. If I ever see him again it will be too soon."

"Aww poor Aladdin. I can set you up with people much better than the old fart. I'm much better in the fine art of flirtation. Do you want-"

"Hold on a second." A Pause, "Kouha I have to go. I'll talk to you later. Text me when you get a break."

Aladdin was mesmerized by the sound. Someone was playing the harp in the back of the store. She listened, frozen in place. The tension she felt seemed to slip away. Whoever it was played one of her songs after the first classical piece, then a piece she didn't recognize. When the last note sounded with an air of finality she rushed to the back of the store, wanting to speak with the player.

When she got there she froze. Her favorite singer stood before her. His long, black hair in its usual unique braid, his bright red eyes staring right back at hers. She had been searching for news of him since he disappeared ten months earlier, and he was just standing right in front of her. She didn't know what to say first. He arched an eyebrow, looking as though he was annoyed. She cut him off; she didn't want to miss her chance to talk to him.

"I really like your playing just now. It was beautiful. I didn't recognize the last song though. What was it?"

"It's something I wrote a long time ago." Of course his playing was beautiful. He became an expert at all the instruments he played. Had she expected any different? What an idiot. Well, at least she gave out compliments that seemed genuine and not forced. That's more than most other celebrities he had met so far. He was interested in this strange girl. "So what is a pop star such as yourself doing here?"

"It's my day off. I wanted to get some piano practice books because I'm not as good as I want to be. What are you doing here? You have been gone forever!"

She didn't miss that he knew who she was. It made her happy for some reason.

"I'm taking a break, this just happened to be on my list of places to visit."

She didn't miss a beat. "Do you want to get lunch with me?" It probably wasn't the best way to ask but she was really excited.

"And why would I do that? I don't make a habit of spending time with short pop stars."

She ignored the jabs at her height, she wasn't that short. "Because I want to talk to you. You write such beautiful music. I've wanted to write a song with you for a long time but Sinbad said that it wasn't a good idea."

"Oh, he said that did he. Well, in that case I guess I have to have lunch with you. You better not take me to some crappy place either."

She smiled. It had worked. He would go with her! "Let me just get the music books and then we can go!"

She felt Judal's eyes on her as she ran back to the aisle she had been in before and picked out several books at random. He walked up behind her and looked at the books she picked out. When she turned around he stole them from her arms and put all of them back, pulling out several others to replace them.

"Those are better." He said simply before walking up to the front of the store.

She smiled again, this time even brighter.

* * *

Hello dear readers,

They finally meet. I'm so excited to write the next few chapters. I plan to get one (possibly two) more chapter(s) published tonight. Then I will retire until tomorrow. Probably. I will definitely have more chapters up tomorrow. Keep reading.

As for the pairings, I still haven't made any decisions as to who should be with who so if there is anything specific you want please let me know.

Keep reviewing it makes me feel happy inside. And motivates me to keep writing this.

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	6. Lunch

Aladdin called a cab and instructed the driver to take them to her favorite lunch place. It was a little café in a quieter area of town. It wasn't very well known, but it was really good and she liked it because it wasn't busy and full of people who would recognize her and stare. She used to perform there with Alibaba and Morgiana before she became a professional.

When they arrived Judal looked around, figuring out what kind of place it was. A hole in the wall, apparently. Obviously not some place a bunch of teenagers or young adults would be going to get lunch. Good. Less staring, he approved of her choice so far.

She led him in and chose a table in the corner at the back. In a moment a waitress, in her fifties was Judal's guess, came to get their drink orders.

"Hi Gloria! It's been a while. I want iced tea. And the Usual sandwich, you remember right?"

"Of course I remember sweetheart. And you sir?"

"Water and the French Dip."

"That's no fun! You like peaches. Could you bring him the peach smoothie please?"

The waitress smiled and walked away. Judal arched a brow at Aladdin.

"I like peaches?"

"Um, yeah. You always post pictures of peach deserts and stuff on your instagram." As Aladdin talked she got quieter until it was just a mumble. Her cheeks were dusted with pink.

Cute. That's what came into Judal's head when he saw her blush. He wanted to see more. In a sultry voice, "Do I? I didn't know you were so interested in me." He added a slight tilt of his head.

Her cheeks were bright red, she could feel them burning. "I-I…Yeah. The music you play is really amazing and you have a great voice. And I noticed that you don't use much auto tuning. It's nice. I don't like the way auto tune makes things sound. Natural voices are prettier."

"So full of compliments. Do you flatter everyone like this, or just me?"

If it was possible her face got even more red. "I-I compliment people who deserve them. Oh look, the food is here."

She got lucky. He stopped the flirtation for now. For the first few moments they just ate. Judal could feel the curiosity rolling off of the girl. She wanted to ask him a million questions, he could tell. But, unlike many others she had the courtesy to wait, so it seemed.

"So is there something you wanted to ask or say specifically, or did you just plan on looking at me while I eat?"

She had been caught. She cursed at herself, but quickly recovered.

"How many instruments can you play?"

"And here I thought you followed my social media. That information is-"

"But you constantly learn new instruments, and no new information has been posted on any of your social media for almost a year."

"Wow, I have a celebrity super-fan." He watched her face begin to redden again. "Ten instruments."

"What are they?"

"Ukulele, ocarina, cello, french horn, flute, violin, drums, guitar, harp, and piano."

"Do you own any of them or do you just rent them?"

He smirked, "I own at least one of all of them."

"That's amazing. I have a grand piano at home but that's it. And I'm not very good. You write all the music for your albums right? Not just the lyrics?"

"Of course."

"I want to do that too."

"Then do it."

"I can't."

"Why. If you want to write the lyrics and the music then write them both."

"I'm not very good. And Sinbad is already mad that I'm doing that for the album I'm writing now. It's taking me a really long time, and he told me he didn't want the next album to take this long. He wasn't very happy about it."

"Then ignore the man-whore. Nobody likes him anyway. He doesn't know what he is talking about. Yeah, he is talented and popular. According to the music charts you are too."

"I don't really get much of a choice. If I don't do it the way he wants then I'll get cut from the Label, and I want to keep singing."

Judal noticed the change in her. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who was negatively affected by Sinbad. She pushed her food away, not even half finished, and her smile faded. He recognized that look. He had seen it in himself right before Ithnan had started giving him the damn drugs. Something raged inside of him. Why the hell did Sinbad have to make things suck for everyone?

"When do you plan on coming back from your break?"

"Soon. My original plan was to take a year off to get ahead on some albums and relax a bit. I wasn't really sleeping or eating well and my health really sucked the few months before I left. Not to mention they kept making me do these stupid performances with talentless wannabes. Especially that last performance; that was a complete and utter disaster."

"Yeah, I'm sure from a normal person's view the last performance would have looked fine but to me it looked a bit disorganized."

He gave her a withering look, but it wasn't really directed at her, "That has to be the understatement of the year. I didn't even know I was performing with that asshole until the morning of the performance. My manager knew I would refuse if he told me in advance. That idiot was so high it I was surprised he actually remembered the words to his rap."

Aladdin saw this going downhill and decided to try to redirect the conversation, "What about that last music video you did. The dancing one! It was really cool an-"

"Do not say anything else positive about those dancers. They were all idiots. They kept telling me how I should play my freaking music. It was always to fast or to slow for them. That entire group of dancers was know-it-alls with no sense of respect."

Aladdin could relate to that.

"The actor I had in my last music video did that two. He kept complaining that I wasn't doing it right even though everyone else said it was fine. It was really annoying."

"Working with people in music videos is a pain in the ass. Most models are okay and some actors are okay, and besides that particular group of dancers I haven't found to many problems on that side. Just whatever you do don't let anyone talk you into working with rappers. They don't appreciate people with actual talent."

Aladdin wasn't sure about that because she had never worked with rappers, but she didn't think arguing with him was a good idea. Kouha texted her. She looked at the message.

 _Just arrived in San Francisco. I have no idea what the hell the movie is about_ _ **still**_ _! What took you away from me?_

 _I found someone in the music store. We are at lunch._

 _Someone? Is it a boy? Is he a musician? Is he cute?_

 _He is a musician and a singer…Yes, he is cute. Extremely cute actually._

 _Do I know him?_

 _Probably._

 _What's his name?_

 _I'm not telling you._

 _Tell Me! Ali WHAT IS HIS NAME?_

 _I'll tell you later. I'm still with him. Go work or something :P_

While Aladdin had been texting Kouha the waitress had brought the check, Judal had handed her his card, and she had taken it away and returned with it. Aladdin looked up in time to see him returning the card to his wallet.

"You weren't supposed to pay! I invited you I should have paid! At least let me get the tip."

"I already got it. Since when does the girl pay? Haven't you seen movies or read romance novels?"

"I thought that was only for dates. And besides, this is modern times. Guys never pay anymore. They order the most expensive things on the menu and insult you throughout the meal then insist that you pay for everything."

Judal noted that she sounded a bit bitter. "Aww, poor little newbie had a bad date?"

"Yeah, I didn't get the 'never date Abercrombie models' notice until this morning and its not like Sinbad knew."

Judal laughed. "Yeah, you can't date them. I made the same mistake more then once. They are really annoying most of the time."

Aladdin smiled a little. One of her songs came on and she started singing along without realizing it. Judal watched her for a moment before he moved to get up.

"Ah, where are you going?"

"My hotel."

"Come play music with me." Aladdin winced. It had sounded like a demand. And it sounded kind of rude. He wasn't going to come. That sucked.

He smirked. This girl kept surprising him. She wasn't all full of herself, she wasn't prideful, and she kept getting all flustered. It was amusing. Fine. He would go.

"Lead the way, newbie. I don't have all day."


	7. Private Concert

Aladdin brought Judal to her apartment, leading the way to the small room with the piano. She set the music books she bought in the bookshelf standing against the far wall. Judal sat down at the piano, reading over the music set on the piano's stand. It wasn't bad, a little messy, a bit inexperienced, but not too bad.

Aladdin sat on the piano bench next to him. She was nervous about having him look at her music. It wasn't finished yet.

"Not bad for a newbie Chibi. Play it."

"Ah. This one isn't really finished yet though."

"I can see that. Stop being all nervous and play the damn song Chibi."

She did. It wasn't perfect. She stumbled through her playing, though it didn't bug Judal as much as it normally would. When she finished, she looked over at him, waiting.

"You should practice more. Your technique sucks."

"I know! That's why I bought those books. If your so great why don't you play it instead."

He did. She watched his hands glide across the keys, floating through the notes she had stumbled on. "Sing Chibi. This isn't some private concert."

She sang the lyrics she had written for the song so far. He transitioned from the end of that song to another of hers so that she would keep singing. They continued like that for several more songs until he started playing one of his own, testing her. She didn't falter. His lips twitched into a small smile when she knew the lyrics.

They continued, turning it into a game. She named a song, he played it, she sang; he played a song, she sang as much of the lyrics as she knew, when she faltered he sang the rest. His voice was even nicer in person. Better then the concert she had gone to with Alibaba and Morgiana a few years earlier. She loved it. She felt happier then she had in months. She was genuinely smiling, she even laughed at some of the comments he made in between songs or during breaks in the lyrics. She wanted this to keep on going forever.

Of course, that couldn't happen. The doorbell rang. Aladdin moved to get up, but Judal grabbed her arm to keep her in place, continuing playing with the other hand. When Aladdin made no move to get up again he went back to playing with both hands. The doorbell went off again. And again.

"Just ignore it. They will go away."

"But whoever it is seems really persistent. I should go check."

Judal just kept playing, and Aladdin didn't move to get up despite what she said. The last ring had been a while ago and she figured whoever it was had left. Until the knocking. Very loud, demanding knocking filled the Apartment.

"Aladdin I can hear the piano. Come open the door."

Aladdin groaned. She was in no mood to talk to Sinbad again. Judal stopped playing the music. He didn't look particularly pleased. With a huge sigh she stood up and walked slowly to the door. She unlocked it and greeted Sinbad with as much enthusiasm as she could. He didn't wait to be invited in, just pushed past her and walked through her home.

"You didn't answer your phone. Ja'far and I have been trying to get a hold of you for hours."

"I'm sorry. I was practicing. I didn't hear my phone go off. What do you need?"

"I want to hear the album so far. It's been talking a lot longer then usual to get this one out and I want to hear your progress."

"Um, could you maybe wait until tomorrow? My voice is really tired and I'm in the middle of writing the last part of one of the songs. I could sing the whole thing tomorrow inst-"

Sinbad had continued to walk through the rooms and into the piano room, finding Judal playing quietly on the piano. Aladdin looked at Sinbad in time to see the extremely unhappy look cross his face before he smoothed over his expression.

"Aladdin, I thought we had finished discussing a collaboration with Judal. The Al Thamen Label and the Sindria Label don't get along."

"Well if it isn't my least favorite person in the world. How kind of you to barge into your most popular singer's home uninvited."

Aladdin could see Judal's mood drop. They knew each other somehow. Well that made sense they were both extremely popular. Aladdin felt the tension in the room.

"Chibi, I'm leaving. I have shit to do. I'll show myself out."

"Judal wait. We can keep practicing after I show Sinbad my album."

"No, Aladdin, Judal should go. We can't have someone outside of our label hearing the album before it gets released."

Aladdin sighed, defeated. It had been such a good day up to that point. So much for a fun day off with no work to do.

Judal left and Aladdin played her album for Sinbad. He grinned at her and complimented the album so far. She didn't feel happy about it though. In fact the emptiness inside of her seemed to completely consume her. It hurt.

She wanted the private concert of two to continue, but Judal was gone and she was alone again, Sinbad having left shortly after hearing the album and telling her to 'keep up the good work.'

* * *

This chapter is pretty short, I know. Next chapter I plan to give a background for Judal. I've been waiting to write it for a while now so I'm pretty excited.

As far as pairings go you will see some soon. I don't know exactly who is going to be with who because I have a few different ideas. It's so hard to choose :P

On the same note I have a request for a love rival for Judal with an interesting suggestion, but I'm not exactly sure if I can write it in a satisfying way (I will try my best) so if there are any people you want to see compete with Aladdin for Judal's attention let me know!

Anyway look out for those chapters they should be coming up really soon. Get excited.

Until next time!

-Kizuna


	8. Bad Memories

***Judal***

Life sucked. Just when things started to get better, interesting in a non-annoying way, life just had to come and bite you in the ass.

He had finally gotten better. No more drugs, relatively normal sleeping pattern, and healthier body.

And then there was now. For the first time in months he wanted to lose him self in the euphoric state the drugs used to give him. Drown himself in alcohol. He wanted to run away from the memories. And he almost did. Almost.

Those stupid memories were flooding through his mind. He couldn't sleep. It had been hours since he got to his hotel room. It was almost midnight. Yeah, life was a bitch. He gave up fighting the memories and just let them consume him, sure that he would have a headache when he was done strolling down memory lane.

 _Judal sat in front of his hotel room. His stupid manager was supposed to meet him here an hour ago with the key to his room. He strummed his guitar, singing the lyrics to an old favorite of his. He had no idea what time it was, his phone was dead. He was tired. He really wanted to get into his room. Damn his manager for making him wait out in the cold hallway._

 _A door across the hall and a little way down opened. There went the third girl he had seen whoever was in that room invite in in the past week. A few minutes later a purple-haired man came out. He walked towards Judal slowly, waiting for Judal to finish the song. When he was done Judal looked up._

" _You're good." He waited but Judal didn't answer, just returned to strumming the guitar. "What are you doing out here?"_

 _A pause. "My idiot manager never gave me the key to my room and since he reserved it in his name like an idiot I can't get another one from the receptionist."_

" _It's cold out here."_

" _Thank you for that enlightening bit of information captain obvious."_

" _Quite sarcastic I see. My name is Sinbad."_

 _So this is the infamous Sinbad. His label hated the man who stood before him. He smirked, if Ithnan was going to make him weight then he was going to retaliate. "Judal."_

" _Come with me. You shouldn't wait outside."_

 _Judal stood and followed the man to his room. Sinbad was quite the flirt, even with him. Sixteen-year-old Judal couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that. Men too huh, or is he just a flirtatious person. Somehow I doubt it._

 _They continued their little conversation of meaningless flirting and teasing, biting sarcasm and jokes, until Judal heard Ithnan in the hallway._

" _Well, I guess I should be going then. See you around, Mr. CEO."_

 _And Judal did see him around. Sinbad took him out to dinner, played music with him, and befriended him. Sinbad seduced the hell out of him, and though Judal hated to admit it, he had been innocent and gullible in regards to relationships and sex. He had fallen for Sinbad hook, line, and sinker before he even realized. And he had paid for it dearly in following years._

 _~~~Time passes in their relationship~~~_

" _You should come be part of my label. Sindria is nicer to its artists."_

" _I don't know. My contract with Al Thamen states I have to stay with them at least three years. It's only been two. I would have to pay a huge fee."_

" _I'll pay for it. Who cares. I want you."_

 _Sinbad said those pretty words again, I want you. He had always wanted to hear those words, and Sinbad gave them to him. He felt the others lips on his neck. What if he just let Sinbad have what he wanted? He could do that couldn't he? Then he would be part of the Sindria Label and he would get more rights to his music and more choices. And Sinbad would be happy. Those thoughts lead to a lot of regrets. But, at the time, they had felt right._

 _So Sinbad got his way. He took Judal's innocence away. Several times actually. Judal thought Sinbad loved him. He thought that was what all the physical touches indicated. It sucked when He turned out to be wrong._

 _~~~A few weeks after the deal~~~_

 _Life was a bitch. That was Judal's first thought when he felt something_ _ **off**_ _. Sinbad had been warming his bed for the past few weeks. Little warning signs were going off in his hear. He stood up slowly, pulling the hotel robe on slowly, he was still extremely sore from the previous nights activity. He entered the living area of the hotel and found a note on the little table. He had been used. He had been played, then tossed aside._

 _-Judal, It's been fun. I'm going back home now. When that contract of yours with Al Thamen is up, come talk to me. You have a voice that would work well with several of my other singers. You could be a great back-up. Later—Sinbad_

 _That-that-that disgusting, shitheaded man-whore had used him. He had been fucking played. Son of a bitch! Who did this asshat think he was?_

 _Judal broke down. He actually cried. He sobbed for days. He raided the mini-bar in the hotel room, and when that wasn't enough he paid someone to get him more alcohol-screw underage drinking laws. Screw everything. He was broken. He didn't want to move. He was miserable. Sinbad had broken their deal. Judal was more then pissed._

 _He healed in his own way. He went on a dating streak like mad, models, actors, singers, artists, celebrities, non-celebrities, anyone who looked good for the cameras. He improved his image, while behind the scenes he drank alcohol, and eventually did drugs. He coped in a bad way, but it was coping. He healed. Slowly._

And now he was better. It had been roughly three years since then. Judal had healed and moved on, then healed from his chosen healing method. But today, seeing Sinbad had been like a slap in the face. It really sucked. He ignored the emotions that wanted to escape. He wouldn't return to the emptiness and the feeling of betrayal. Fuck that. He was better then that. He had vowed to become more popular then Sinbad, vowed to ruin the man. He still planned to. The man was going to pay dearly for the misery he had caused.

With scrambled thoughts of the woman he had crushed on before Sinbad, Sinbad himself, and Aladdin he slipped into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Hello!

And yeah, there's a look at Judal before the drugs. Haha. Not sure how I feel about this chapter.

There is a poll up so please take a minute to look and choose the relationships you want to see. I'm leaning towards a certain set but I want to know what you think! I may or may not change who I want together. We shall see.

Anyway yeah. What do you guys think about Sinbad now?

Personally I don't really like Sinbad in the anime/manga, but I don't really know why. He just bugs me I guess. That's why he tends to end up as a bad guy or in opposition of the main characters in so many of my stories. I feel like most people write him as the good guy and Kouen as the bad guy, but I am so much leaning towards the reverse of that. I love Kou way more then Sindria, again, I have no idea why but it is what it is. What about you guys?

Ahhhh. Kouha. What do I do with you? I want to make him a major playboy but I also want to pair him with someone. I have no idea guys someone tell me what to do!...I like the idea of him being better with girls then Sinbad (smirk) :D

Anyway yeah. Make sure to vote while the poll is open pretty please.

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	9. Advice

***Aladdin***

She wasn't happy. Actually, she was really disappointed. Sinbad had ruined her day with Judal. That really sucked. After Sinbad had left she went to the gym and worked out until she felt like she would collapse. She had been dizzy as hell, and had practically crawled to her rooms. What a horrible ending to a great day.

She finished writing her album the next day. She sent everything in to Ugo, who would send it to Sinbad or whoever it was he normally gave things to.

The third day after meeting Judal she had to go in to meet Sinbad, the choreographer, Ugo, and the musicians who would be accompanying her this time around. She wasn't really in the mood for any of this. The day dragged by so slowly. Sinbad had made "corrections" to her music to "make it flow better." To her it just sounded off. It had sounded perfect to her before, when she had taken the advice Judal had given her. She didn't like that Sinbad had changed it, but didn't care enough any more to tell him. She was slipping back into the emptiness again. It was different though. She couldn't figure out why.

After a lunch she didn't eat and several more hours of working on what seemed like nothing to her, since they kept disregarding what she was saying, she said she didn't feel well. She told Ugo that he could stay and finish up. Sharrkan could take her home instead. He wouldn't mind.

When she finally arrived home she called Kouha. She had promised to tell him about the boy she had met and she never had. So why not now? She would talk to him about it first, since he knew there was a boy. She hadn't told anyone else. She normally would talk to Alibaba but he had been really busy recently and she didn't want to bother him.

Kouha didn't pick up. Figures, he was probably still filming. She slipped into the shower. On a normal day, the hot water would help, but right now it didn't. She sighed and got out, wrapping her hair and body in towels before moving into the kitchen. She hadn't eaten since yesterday, now that she thought about it. She didn't really feel like eating anything now though, so she grabbed a granola bar, knowing that if she didn't eat anything at all she would be all dizzy and shaky the next day.

She curled up on the couch, watching Criminal Minds while she finger combed her hair. She wanted to not be alone, but there wasn't anyone she could call right now. Alibaba, Morgiana, and Hakuryuu were all super busy with school. Kouha was out filming his movie. Her mother was in the hospital again and her father was probably working late again. Judal;s image came to her mind, but she pushed it away. She didn't have his phone number or email or anything. She snapped out of her little reverie when her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Aladdin! It's Kouha. I'm sorry I missed your call earlier; I was in the middle of shooting a scene. This idiot actress they have playing my love interest kept saying her lines incorrectly. The director was really annoyed, so he kept making us redo the damn thing. We must have run that scene fifty times before he was happy with it. What did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, I just thought I would talk to you about the other day. I never did tell you about it."

"THE BOY! Oh yes. Spill it. You found him all on your own didn't you?"

"Yes. What does th-"  
"Aww, my little protégé charmed a boy into going out to lunch. I'm so proud. How was it?"

"It was really fun. He has a kind of cynical personality and he cusses a lot, but he was nice and it was really fun. He made me laugh a lot."

"Hmmm. Interesting. You found him in the music shop?"

"Yeah, he was playing the harp. It was so amazing. And he plays piano beautifully too. He came over after lunch and helped me with some of the piano stuff I've been having trouble with. And-"

"Wait, did you say 'came over' as in to your apartment? My little Aladdin is growing up. He didn't make you do anything you didn't want to though, right? If he did I have a new knife I have been dying to try out. It would cut through him like butter, stain everything with re-"

"Kouha! Calm down the sadistic talk a bit, okay? He didn't do anything. We just sang together all afternoon in the piano room. He played and we made a little game out of who knew the lyrics and stuff. It was really fun."

"Well, as long as you liked him. Did you get his number? When is the next date?"

"I didn't have the chance to get his number. He would have been a really cool person to practice with, but Sinbad came over and wanted to hear the album so far and he got this really unhappy look on his face before he left."

"Sinbad scared your date off? How rude! You should yell at him. And he shouldn't be coming to your home. That's inappropriate."

"Kouha, not this rant again. It's fine. I just wish I had gotten the chance to get his number first. Anyway, how is filming going?"

"It was mostly fine until today. One of their idiot actors insulted Kougyoku and she was crying. I was so about to hurt him, but En got to him first. When they came back from their little walk the other guy looked scared shitless. It was hilarious. Agr. I have to go Aladdin, the director wants Koumei to do his scene with me now. He's gonna try to wake Koumei up and I really don't think that's a good idea. He's already unhappy about having to be on camera. Oh shit, this isn't good, I gotta go. Bye Ali-darling!"

She fell asleep watching T.V. on the couch.

The next morning she woke up to the smell of bacon. She opened her eyes slowly. She could see Ugo moving around in the kitchen. She called out a good morning before slipping into her room and getting dressed, brushing her hair, and applying the minimal amount of makeup she used every day. She reemerged from her room as Ugo set her food on the kitchen table. She sat down and started eating slowly, thinking about how to ask him her question. Ugo just sat there waiting, as if he knew she wanted to say something.

"Ugo?"

"Yes Aladdin?"

She wanted to ask him about so many things, but at the same time it felt like the questions she had were something she should talk to Solomon or Sheba about. She just wasn't sure what to do.

"Um. I ahh," she trailed off, unsure.

"Aladdin," He smiled waiting for her to respond.

"Solomon asked me to set up a dinner for the two of you. You haven't seen each other in a while and he is a little worried. You seem to have something on your mind recently, but you haven't talked to anyone about it."

Leave it to Ugo to know everything, or most things at least. Aladdin should have expected as much.

"I-I don't know who to talk to. There is a lot I want to talk about, but I don't feel close enough to dad anymore to talk to him, and mom is in the hospital and always sleeping, and you have to work and I don't think my friends can help me because I don't even know what is wrong."

"Aladdin, you can always talk to me if you want to, but sometimes there are things that you have to talk to a parent about. Even if you don't have the best or closest relationship, parents are there to help you no matter what. I think whatever it is you should talk to Solomon about. He misses you asking him for advice, even if he tries not to show it. Why don't you two have dinner at the French restaurant downtown that you both like? I can make a reservation for a private room."

"I-ah okay. Please do that."

The conversation continued on about the new album and the planning of another tour, this time in Europe. Ugo had called her in sick that day apparently. It worked for her, she didn't feel like dealing with another day like yesterday.

~~~At dinner with Solomon~~~

Aladdin was the first to arrive. She was early, but the room was ready so she sat at the table, sipping the water the waiter brought her. She thought about things that had happened recently. About the emptiness in her chest, the way it had been completely forgotten when she had spent time with Judal. How her chest had felt hot. How her face had burned. How he had made her laugh for the first time in what felt like forever, a genuine laugh not the false laughs she gave to hide her pain.

When Solomon got there the usual pleasantries were exchanged. The waiter took their order.

"Aladdin, you look thinner. Have you been eating?"

"Probably not as much as I should, but I'm never really hungry. And I have been working out a lot." Aladdin decided against trying to fool Solomon. She really needed to talk to someone and if Ugo said her dad would be a good choice, then she would trust his judgment.

"I see. Well, at least make sure what you do eat isn't a bunch of junk food. If you aren't eating very much you should at least get as much out of what you do eat as possible. I don't want you to get sick."

"Don't worry, Ugo has been making sure I stay healthy!"

"I'm sure he has." Solomon offered her a fatherly smile as the waiter brought their food. They took a few minutes to eat before Solomon interrupted the silence. "So, what's on your mind?"

"I don't know where to start."

"The beginning is usually a good place." She smiled at the very Sheba-like look she gave him and continued, "How about the eating? You used to love food. Why aren't you eating?"

She looked at the food she had been pushing around her plate. "The magazines. And the other celebrities. And the producers. They all said I needed to lose weight or that I was too heavy for a celebrity. Even Sinbad said I needed to lose a few pounds. I don't want any of them to look down on me, or use my weight against me as a reason why I'm not as popular as so-and-so or why I can't have a certain part in the movie because I don't have the perfect body."

Solomon looked at her for a while before replying, "Since when does what other people think bother you?"

"Since it mattered! Since whether or not people liked the way I look meant I could or couldn't do something. Producers and Directors are so picky!"

"Aladdin calm down. You are who you are, and if people don't like that then they don't deserve to have you as part of their project, whatever it may be."

"I guess. I want to act too, but Sinbad and the others keep saying there isn't a movie with a part I could play. I know I could have played a part in the last Sindrian movie! It's so frustrating."

"Why don't you go to an audition rather then wait for them to request you? Would that work?"

"I tried that once but Sinbad wouldn't let me. He said in his company big celebrities are always requested."

"And you can't do those plays at the theater like you used to. In that case you will just have to be patient. They will want you soon enough. Is that all that's bugging you? The sixth sense I gained when I became a father says otherwise."

She smiled a bit at that. "I haven't felt happy for a while. I feel alone. Even when I'm with other people. It's like there is a hole in my chest, and it keeps getting bigger and bigger. It keeps getting worse and I don't know what to do. I feel like I'm missing something, but I don't know what is missing. At first, I thought it was my friends, but I have been spending more time with them recently and it hasn't helped. I don't think it's because I miss acting, even though I do. I feel lost. And then I met this person the other day and we spent time together, we ate lunch together and sang together for hours and I forgot all about the emptiness. Actually, I got this really warm feeling in my chest. And then Sinbad came over to listen to my progress on my new album and the other person left and I felt like the emptiness came back, except now it is worse, and I don't even know why I was able to forget about it to begin with because singing normally only makes it a little bit better."

Solomon smiled. "Is this other person someone you like? Do you admire him?"

"Yeah, he is actually my favorite singer. He went off the grid for a while but then I heard him play the harp in the music store we used to go to together and I got him to go to lunch with me and then I convinced him to come practice music with me. It was really fun. Wait, how did you know it was a boy?"

"Father's intuition. Do you like him?"  
"Yeah I think he is really nice. And he has this really nice singing voice, it kinda draws you in and-"

"Aladdin, I meant do you like him, like him. As in a crush."

Her cheeks got really red. "I didn't think about it that way. Is that why my chest got all warm and my cheeks were burning?"

Oh boy, his daughter was pretty damn dense. How did she not realize she was attracted to this new boy. It was adorable, his little Aladdin falling in love for the first time.

"Probably. Those are common reactions when you are attracted to someone."

"Really? Ahh-oh um, that's really weird, my first celebrity crush huh? But he is so far out of my league! This is horrible."

"Aladdin, last time I checked you were a celebrity too."

"Yeah but he is so much more impressive then me! He can play a bunch of instruments really well and he sings beautifully, and he is a model, and an actor too! I am too much of an amateur at this to come close to comparing. Besides, I didn't have the chance to get any of his contact information." She let out a hopeless little sound. Solomon just chuckled. She was being adorable.

"Aladdin, what's his name? I'll find him for you."

Her entire face seemed to brighten at that. "Really? His name is Judal. He is part of the Al Thamen label but he has been taking a break recently."

Shortly after they bid each other good night and went their separate ways. Aladdin felt better now, Ugo had been right; she needed to talk to her father more often. Solomon knew most fathers would have freaked out at the idea of a daughter at home alone with a boy, but he trusted Aladdin not to fall to any kind of pressure and to make smart decisions. If she wanted to do some things with a boy, he wasn't going to stop her. In his opinion she needed to make those decisions on her own, they weren't his to make.

* * *

Hello!

Okay so that was a ridiculously long chapter. I almost split it into two parts but then changed my mind and kept it together.

So, now there is some interaction between Solomon and Aladdin.

Just to be clear, Aladdin is 16 and Judal is 19. I can't remember if I already mentioned Aladdin's age or not.

Please place your vote in the poll, it will be open for a little while longer.

Anyway, the next few chapters will have some more interaction between Aladdin and her friends (or possibly love interests) as well as some other pairings as soon as I get a feel for what you guys want and what I want to do.

How do you like Kouha's character? I want him to be protective over Aladdin. I think it's cute

Until Next Time!  
-Kizuna


	10. Modeling?

Alibaba texted Aladdin Saturday morning asking her to meet him for dinner at a new buffet on the far side of town. She texted him back, saying she would be there as soon as she finished learning the choreography for another music video for a song on her new album. He told her to let him know when she was done for the day and he would meet her there.

After several hours of choreography and blocking she was tired, but she was looking forward to seeing Alibaba. She texted him as soon as she had the chance, then asked Sharrkan to take her to the restaurant.

When they meet at the restaurant, Alibaba begins the usual information sharing. He tells Aladdin about all the drama going on at school. It seemed like Morgiana and Hakuryuu were getting along very well, the popular kids were still causing drama, the schools favorite math teacher and the head of the history department were dating but trying to hide it from the students. She was happy to hear that Alibaba had aced his big language presentation and the report on ancient civilizations. They talked like that for almost three hours, not leaving until the restaurant was closing. Alibaba drove her home and left, promising to see her again soon.

She fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. She hadn't bothered changing clothes or taking off her makeup.

The next morning while she was getting ready she got a message from Jafar. He said Sinbad wanted her to come talk to him at the office before going to the studio to record the first part of the music video.

When she went in to see Sinbad he was grinning.

"I have a modeling job that I think will work for you."

"Really?" Aladdin was surprised, she had pretty much given up on doing anything but singing.

"Yes. This particular fashion line is geared to sell to people a little older then you, but I think it will be okay, and since you've lost weight recently these designs should look good on you." He passed her a folder filled with images of the clothing designs. They were skimpy. Aladdin frowned. There was very little left to the imagination in these clothes, they were barely a step up from sexy underwear. He had to be kidding. She was sixteen for crying out loud.

"Don't you think this is a bit too risqué? I'm not sure I'm comfortable showing this much skin."

"Don't worry about it. This will be perfect. Why else did you work so hard to lose the weight? You should flaunt what you have now."

She didn't like this. She wasn't comfortable. "I don't know Sinbad."

"Why are you hesitating? I thought you wanted to expand your work base."

"I do, I just don't think I'm comfortable doing it by showing myself in cloths like these."

"Aladdin, this isn't good. If you aren't willing to try things then you won't make it very far."

"At least let me talk to Ugo about it and think it over. I really don't think I want to do this."

She left after that, not willing to listen to anymore of his persuasion. She didn't care if it was rude. He kept asking more and more of her. She had done a ridiculous amount of work since submitting her new album. It had been almost three weeks since then. She was doing "previews" which would be leaked to get people excited and anticipating the release. And she had to record one of the songs several different times, first with only the piano, then with only the guitar, then only lyrics, then with the normal set of instruments. She was doing music videos for all of the new songs. It was all taking so much time. Sinbad was keeping her really busy.

She spent the day working, keeping herself going with the promise that tomorrow she was free to do whatever she wanted, probably study.

* * *

Short Chapter, I know. I'm sorry. I'm working some things out with the storyline. This was originally longer but I decided to leave part of it for a later time because I think it makes more sense with a later setting.

Anyway, please visit the poll before I take it down.

Don't forget to review! :D

Until Next Time!  
-Kizuna


	11. Coffee Shop

Aladdin's day off finally arrived. She was still behind on schoolwork, so she took the chance to do some makeup work. She got up early and showered. She dressed in black harem pants and matching crop-top. She pulled on a royal blue hoodie to fight off the chill of the rainy morning. She braided her hair back and tucked it into the sweatshirt, carefully applying the usual makeup, adding a gloss to her lips instead of a moisturizer. She grabbed a large cross body bag and filled it with her notebooks and laptop. Most of her school stuff was online, but working through some things on paper helped her process new material quicker.

She locked up behind her, double-checking that she had cash in her wallet. She exited the building, choosing to walk the several blocks to the coffee shop rather then call a cab. She pulled up the hood of her jacket, not wanting to be recognized and not wanting to get wet from the sprinkle that had started.

She ordered a caramel latte, giving the name Ali, and sat down at a table in the back corner. She opened her laptop and started looking through the assignments she had to do. She was technically homeschooled –enrolled in a special program Solomon had designed for her when she had signed to the label. When she was younger she had skipped a few grades so even though she was sixteen she was at a high-school senior level of academics. Solomon's program was designed to maximize learning in a minimum amount of time, taking into consideration the way Aladdin learned best and the like. He spent several weeks with some of his best workers to design the program for her. She really appreciated it.

She started working on the French exercises. She would need to study the vocabulary now and test herself on it later. She was almost fluent in the language, her biggest problem was she never seemed to know enough vocabulary to say what she wanted to, but her grammar was excellent. She had just finished the first set of exercises when the barista called her name and she retrieved her coffee, resuming her work. She moved onto math quickly. It was her least favorite subject. It took her a really long time to get the numbers to make sense. She just didn't get it.

She scribbled madly in her notebook, trying to understand how to get the answer. Nothing she tried was working. She was so focused on trying to understand the new math lesson that she didn't notice the pair of arms that circled around her until they were holding her against someone's chest, one of the hands taking a pen from the table and moving across the notebook, clearly writing out the steps of the problem until coming to the answer and laying the pen down.

"It seems as though you struggle with numbers, Chibi."

"Judal! What are you doing here?"

"Getting coffee. Why else would I be here? You should eat something. Do you like croissants? I bought two. You have to eat one."

She was surprised. He was here, he helped her with her work, and he offered her food. What the heck was going on?

"Um, okay. If you insist. I didn't know you were good at math."

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me. Aren't you a little young to be doing calculus?"

"I skipped some grades when I was younger. Technically I am a senior. Why did you do that here?" She was pointing to one of the steps he had written out. He explained it to her. She asked more questions, he kept explaining. "I actually get it. That's amazing! It normally takes me hours to understand new concepts. Thanks!"

"Sure Chibi. Happy to be of service. What's next on the agenda?"

"What do you mean?"  
"It looks like you're settled in to stay for a while, I assume you are working on educational things today. So, what subject are you working on next?"

"Um, history. Right now I'm focusing on ancient cultures, and I just finished China so I can move on to Japan now. Or testing French vocab."

"French. Let's get that out of the way first."

"Let's? Are you staying?"

"Unless you have someone else to help you through your lessons, Sinbad maybe?"

"No way, Sinbad just confuses me. He doesn't make any sense. And Jafar is way to technical. You are the best so far."

He smirked, taking the list of French words she wanted to be tested on. She expected him to read her the English translation, but instead he described the objects in French. His accent was gorgeous. She answered him every time, stumbling over a few of the terms. After finishing the vocab test she reached for the list, but he kept it in hand starting to talk to her in French. Basic conversation, comments about the weather. He liked to hear her speak French, it was pretty.

"Onwards to history then, Chibi?"

And the two sat in the coffee shop for several hours. Judal and Aladdin taking turns to get more coffee. Aladdin caught up on all the lessons she had fallen behind in. She was amazed. Judal had helped her every time she had been confused, which sped up her work pace exponentially. She was so happy.

"What's next Chibi?"

"That's it. I'm all caught up now. Actually, I'm kinda ahead now. Thanks Jugemu!"

Aladdin blushed; the nickname had just slipped out without her thinking. Judal smiled, so the girl was comfortable enough to nickname him, huh? Well, he had been called worse. Aladdin looked at the clock on her laptop. She had been at the café for eight hours. She stood up and stretched, not having moved much in the past few hours. A yawn escaped her.

"Should I drive you home?"

Had he just offered what she thought he just offered? "You don't have to, I can walk."

"Chibi, it's pouring outside. You will get soaking wet."

"A little water never hurt anyone."

"A little water never hurt anyone, sure, but that is a lot of water. Get your shit together and let's go."

She just listened to him, to tired to argue. She put her things back into her bag and joined Judal, who had ordered yet another round of drinks for the two of them. He handed her a set of keys.

"The black mustang right outside. Don't ding it, it's a rental."

She hurried outside and climbed into the passenger seat of the car. She pulled off her now-wet hoodie and leaned back, relaxing in the seat. She let her eyes close as she listened to the pattering of the rain outside. Judal had waited inside for the drinks. When he climbed into the car, he found Aladdin sleeping. He put the drinks in the cup holder and pulled the keys from her hand gently, turning on the car and putting the heater on high. The crop top she was wearing left a few inches of skin visible. Judal averted his eyes, not wanting to be drawn in to the girl's brightness. He didn't want to wake her up but he couldn't remember how to get to her apartment building. He settled to take her to his hotel instead.

He left the car with the valet, slinging the girl's bag over his shoulder, her sweatshirt over his arm, and the drinks very carefully into the bag, wedged against the books. He picked her up bridal style and carried her through the lobby, up the elevator and to his room. Shit, he couldn't hold her and open the door. He saw a maid coming out of a room down the hall and called over to her. It was the same maid who had cleaned his room the day before. He had left her a huge tip. She smiled at him when she recognized who he was and opened the door for him. He placed Aladdin on his bed and pulled the blankets around her. Watching her sleep for a while before he walked into the kitchen, taking her drink and putting it in the fridge. He drank his. He had wanted to talk her into playing piano and singing with him again. He hadn't stopped thinking about her since the day they had met. He pulled out her phone; entering the password he had seen her use earlier. He entered himself into her contacts. He wanted to see if she would call. She kept surprising him. She knew French, she liked science and mythology, and she wasn't shallow or uneducated like so many other celebrities he had dealt with. She was actually trying to continue school; most celebrities gave up on education once they became popular.

He felt himself yawn too. Screw normal courtesy, it was her fault for falling asleep in the first place. He slipped under the covers and wrapped his arms around the girl. She was warm. He fell asleep soon after.

Aladdin woke up in an unfamiliar place. She could tell it wasn't her bed, but it was comfortable. She was really warm. She opened her eyes slowly and looked around. A hotel room? She turned her head to the side and saw Judal's sleeping face. He looked so vulnerable in his sleep. She felt his arms around her, and she blushed a deep red. She was in her supposed crush's room, sleep next to him, and he was holding her. Her heart started beating really loud. She wasn't sure what she should do, so she just wrapped her arms around him and snuggled against him, pressing his face into his chest. She felt his hands running through her hair. Judal must have taken out her braid.

"You are awfully cuddly aren't you, Chibi?"

She was so embarrassed. Her cheeks were burning. She didn't move or say anything.

"I know you are awake Chibi."

"What do you want me to say? This is a really awkward moment for me. I've never been in a situation like this before."

Judal laughed. "Chibi, you are so innocent. It's adorable."

She smiled a little. Adorable. She was happy. He just kept playing with her hair.

"What are you doing tomorrow Chibi?"

"I have to record part of a music video. And I'm meeting a friend who just finished shooting a movie for breakfast."

"Hmmm. You should call me when you are done. I'll take you to dinner."

Did he just ask her out? Did that really happen or was she making this a bigger deal then necessary? She really hoped this was a date.

"If it isn't too late, then sure. What time is it? I should get home."

"It's seven forty. Give me a minute to wake up then I will drive you home. I couldn't remember how to get there earlier so I brought you here."

That made sense. He rolled over and got out of bed. She stood up after a minute and walked out of the bedroom area into the living area. She put her shoes back on and stuffed her sweatshirt into her bag. She was ready to go when Judal came back out with a coffee cup that he handed to her. It was hot chocolate. She drank the sweet drink in the car, listening to him sing along with the instrumental music that was playing in the car. It was nice. When they got to her apartment he walked he to her door and said goodnight before leaving.

She really liked him. She would admit it. Her heart beat faster then normal around him, and she got this warm feeling inside. Yeah, she really liked him.

* * *

Hello!

This chapter took forever to write. But I really like it. I love writing Judal when he is around Aladdin. But I feel like he is OOC. I want to write some more chapters where he and Sinbad interact so I can show that eviler, more cynical side of him.

Anyway yeah. I'm super excited for the next chapter, it should be really cute too. Get ready. :D

Until Next Time!  
-Kizuna


	12. Lesson in Flirting

She was late. Aladdin had been held up this morning because Sinbad had called to tell her that there was another possible model for the shoot he had proposed to her shortly before. She still wasn't really comfortable with the clothes that were going to be shown, but she was going to talk to Ugo about it later. For now, she needed to talk to Kouha. Alibaba had gotten extremely busy once again, Morgiana was training for an upcoming martial arts competition, and Hakuryuu was on a random vacation with his family outside of the country. She hadn't been able to talk to any of them, though she wasn't sure they would have been able to help her anyway.

She needed boy advice. Kouha was the expert in flirtation; he was even smoother than Sinbad. It was an impressive skill in its own right.

She arrived almost forty minutes late to the set meeting time. Kouha was going to kill her, if he was still here.

She sighed in relief when she saw him in their usual booth. He had his hair extensions in, he was wearing a rather chic outfit. He was rocking the girl disguise today. Aladdin had just pulled the hood of her sweatshirt up. She hadn't even bothered to put makeup on.

"Ali, you are late!"

"I know, I'm sorry. Sinbad called me and wouldn't let me get off the phone."

"I forgive you. So what's up?"

"I um. Well, it's about that boy."

"Oh him, you never did tell me his name."

"Judal."

"The singer? I heard he is a real asshole."

"He isn't though. Not that I've seen so far. Anyway I need your advice."  
"My advice?"  
"I want you to teach me about flirting."

"My poor, adorable, dense Aladdin. Of course I will help you."

The waitress came and took their orders.

"So, where should I start?"

"Um, how do I know if he likes me? Actually, he asked me to go to dinner with him last night, but I don't know if he meant it as a date or just as friends."

"What did he say?"

She told him.

"It sounds like he is testing you. Trying to see what you want. He is assessing whether you want to be more than friends and if you are material to be more than friends with."

"What should I do?"

"Aladdin, you should be yourself. You don't want to pretend to be someone you aren't just to get him to like you. If you do that you won't ever really be happy. Just talk to him like you would to me or any other one of your friends."

"You know, Kouha, that sounds very cliché."

"It is, but you being you, it's the best advice. You have a smile that brightens the room and your laugh draws people in. And I don't think that a novice like you could really work the seduction angle at this point."  
"I thought you were supposed to be good at this?"

"I am good at this. You have natural charm some people would kill for. Use it. Smile and laugh. You could throw the occasional slight tilt of the head when asking him a question about himself."

"He did that to me once."

"Did you blush?"

"Maybe."

"He is a master. Use the same move in a similar situation and it will pull him in. But really Ali, you don't need to do anything extra. You should relax around him. If you already got along well without trying then you should keep doing what you are doing."

This conversation went back and forth for about an hour, continuing as they ate. When it finally came time for Aladdin to go to the filming location, she kissed Kouha on the cheek, thanking him again before hurrying off. Kouha texted her that if Judal was really nice she should kiss him on the cheek at the end of the date just like she had just done to him.

During her first break from filming she talked to Ugo about the modeling job. He told her she shouldn't do anything that made her uncomfortable.

She didn't want Sinbad to be any more upset with her though. After a moment of thought she grinned. She sent out a text then returned to filming.

* * *

Hello!

I have summer homework to do and I'm getting ready to go to my aunt's house for two weeks.

The next chapter is probably going to be pretty short.

Please review! And vote for the poll, I'm going to take it down soon.

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	13. Big Sister's Favor

Sinbad kept asking her about the modeling job. Every break he talked to her about it. She wanted him to leave her alone. He had this way of talking people into things, and she didn't want to fall to his persuasion and end up regretting things later.

At the end of the day while Aladdin was getting ready to go to dinner with Judal Sinbad got a phone call. He wasn't happy with whoever was on the other side of the call. He was arguing loudly. When he got off he went over to Aladdin and Ugo.

"Bad news, the clothing line I wanted you to model for got a different actress."

"Oh, that's too bad, I guess we will just have to find you another modeling job Aladdin." Ugo was just a bit sarcastic. He didn't like the job Sinbad had chosen for Aladdin.

"I thought you said they requested me specifically Sinbad, what happened?" Aladdin put her acting skills to use, adding disappointment and confusion to her voice. She knew exactly what had happened.

"Some big-shot model said she wanted to do the shoot. Since she is older they preferred her to you. I'm sorry Aladdin."

"It's okay! We can just try for another one. If I let this get to me it wouldn't be good, so you don't feel bad either!" Ugo was impressed with how well Aladdin was selling the innocent act. He had the feeling she had orchestrated this little road block.

"Aladdin, we need to get going. Solomon made the reservations for twenty minutes from now and it will take us that long to get there."

"Where are you guys going?"

"Oh, dad, Ugo, and I are going to have dinner together at a new restaurant! Dad wants to ask me some questions about the homeschool program so that he can add to it and make it better, and since I finished all the lessons they designed, he wants to know what else I want to learn." She looked at her phone. "Ugo, we only have ten minutes to get there not twenty. Come on we have to hurry! Bye Sinbad."

Aladdin grabbed her bag and Ugo's hand and ran off to his car. She waited until they were on the road and out of sight before she sent Judal a text. He replied with a time and place for her to meet him. She had never heard of it before. He gave her an hour. Ugo took her home first, letting her change her hair, taking it out of the braid she had and brushing it out and leaving it down. She grabbed purse, changed into a cocktail dress and heels (Ugo had informed her that it was a rather fancy Italian place about fifteen minutes away from home,) and applied a little bit more makeup then she had put on at the studio. She hadn't expected him to choose a fancy restaurant, thinking he would choose a casual place instead. It wasn't like she was complaining. She liked dressing up. She made a call as she followed Ugo back to his car.

"Aladdin? How are you?"

"I'm great! Thank you so much for the favor. I really wasn't comfortable doing that job."

"Anything for you. I'm happy to help, what else are big sister's for? What was that man thinking having you do something like this though? I didn't start doing this kind of stuff until I turned twenty."

"I don't know, but it made me nervous."

The conversation continued until Ugo pulled up in front of the restaurant to drop Aladdin off.

"Oh, I have to go now! I just got to the restaurant. I'll talk to you later. Bye Hakuei!"

* * *

It was short, I know. But Judal and Aladdin are having dinner together in the next chapter!

The poll is going down soon so take some time if you haven't checked it yet.

Until Next Time

-Kizuna


	14. First Dinner Together

Judal watched Aladdin get out of the car, talking to the driver a second before she turned around. She was wearing a dark purple dress. It was cut to showoff her curves well, fitted on top and cinched at the waist, flowing from her waist down, stopping at her mid-thigh. Her hair was down; he liked it. The heels she wore brought her up closer to his height and the gloss on her lips drew attention to them. She had dressed up for the occasion, how cute.

She didn't see him as she walked to the door, about to go inside when he slipped up beside her. He opened the door for her silently and she slipped inside. He had made a reservation for them, choosing a table in the back corner where they were less likely to be spotted.

"You got all dressed up for me, Chibi, I'm flattered."

"I got dressed up because this is a formal restaurant. You are dressed up too." She took a moment to absorb the black pants and white button up he was wearing, complete with a tie.

"I am indeed. Good to know you noticed. How was your day?"

"Good. Sinbad is mad though. Someone else was chosen for a modeling job he wanted me to do. I'm glad though; the clothes were too skimpy for my taste. I wouldn't have felt comfortable modeling them."

"Don't let the man-whore pressure you to do anything you don't want to. And don't listen to his pretty words. They don't mean anything. He is all talk."

Aladdin laughed. "You seem to have a strong opinion about him. Do you not like each other?"

"Not at all. He is a back-stabbing liar who likes to sleep around and screw with people's minds."

"If you don't like him then let's talk about something else. What did you do today?"

"Not much. I went back to that music store and bought the harp. I think I'm going to have it sent to my house in Northern California."

"You bought the harp? That's good; it was really beautiful when you played it. Will you play it for me again?"

"Maybe. We'll see what happens Chibi. I don't normally do private concerts, but I might make an exception if it is you."

She blushed, smiling a bit. "I, um, I was going to invite a friend of mine to have breakfast tomorrow morning at a café, Do you want to come? Actually, now that I think about it, the place is only a block away from your hotel."

"Oh, a second date already? You sure move fast."

"I didn't mean-"

"Fine. I'll be there. The one with the waffle on the sign right?"

"Yeah! They have the best hot chocolate ever. And the omelets are to die for."

"I see. And who is this friend of yours?"

"His name is Kouha. He actually works as an artist at Al Thamen, he used to be with Kou but since the two merged-"

"Kouha Ren?"

"Yeah. We go to breakfast together pretty often because we both normally have mornings off. Do you know him?"

"We worked together for a charity concert once. He was quite the flirt."

"He still is. He's the first one to tell me not to date Abercrombie models. He didn't approve of Sinbad's choice at all."

"Yeah, no, don't listen to Sinbad for possible dates."

"I don't plan on doing it again, believe me."

"So tell me, Chibi, how did you get into this business of ours?"

"Oh, well I used to do all kinds of things. I liked drawing and painting, I'm really good at lifelike things. I used to play music at some places nearby with my friends, Morgiana and Alibaba. It was really fun. And I acted in a few plays with a local theater group. It was a fluke, but Sinbad saw a musical I was in and insisted that I go to dinner with him, so I did. Ugo and I went and talked to him. Originally, my contract was as a group with Alibaba and Morgiana, as well as me being and multi-talent, but Alibaba and Morgiana's families didn't want them to get distracted from school so they didn't become part of the Label. And I haven't really done anything but sing yet, but I'll do it someday."

"So you used to be part of a band?"

"We weren't really a band, we just all liked music so we played together. Oh, I guess that sounds like a band huh? Well Alibaba and I have been friends for a really long time. His dad and my dad work together. We grew up together. He helps me out with school stuff sometimes, but we are learning about different things because dad made my education program based off of what I want to learn and Alibaba has to follow the school systems plan. We went out to dinner the other day. He has been really busy with school stuff and so we haven't seen each other very much recently. I really miss seeing him, but-" She got quieter towards the end, sensing Judal's mood change. He didn't look too happy right now. He interrupted her before she could continue on.

"Focus on me Chibi. I'm here. I don't want to here about how great your boyfriend is. I asked about you, not him."

Aladdin frowned. "He isn't my boyfriend. He is a boy and he is a friend, but we aren't dating or anything. We are like siblings, us dating would be really weird."

Judal seemed to get slightly less upset, but he was still suspicious. "I see. You like to draw?"

Aladdin was glad for the subject change. "Yeah, I used to take a bunch of art classes. The teachers always said I was really good at making things life-like. I haven't really practiced any art for a while though. Same with acting, I'm so busy I never really get the chance to do those things anymore."

"Hmmm. Chibi, stop moving the food around on your plate and actually eat it. It goes in your mouth, and then you chew. There you go."

"Stop, I'm not a little kid."

"I don't know, you look pretty little to me."

"Five three is not that short!"

"I'd give you five two, but not five three. Besides, I was referring to other things."

"Are you calling me flat chested?"

"No, I would be blind if I said that, I meant you are skinny as hell. I bet I could count your ribs."

"Yeah, well, that's what everybody wants. All the stupid producers and directors and Sinbad, they all want a freaking stick. It took me forever but I became a stupid stick for them. I want to be chosen to do things other then sing, but Sinbad turns around and offers me a job where I wear clothes that barely cover more then underwear and now I just regret all the working out and the not eating, but if I don't stay like this then all the stupid people are going to give me crap for gaining weight."

"So ignore them. Who cares what they think."

Aladdin sighed. "You say that because you are perfect." A second later she realized what she had said and turns bright red.

Judal just smiles at her, tilting his head slightly when he meets her eyes. Both of them finished eating, Judal giving the waiter his card before Aladdin could give him hers.

"You paid the last time we ate together. It's my turn."

"Since when does the girl pay for the date?"

"Since modern times when guys became jerks and forced them to or when the girl feels bad because the last time the guy paid for things when he wasn't supposed to."

Judal just shook his head and laughed. "You seem to be rather bitter about some of your experiences, Chibi."

Judal walked her to his car and drove her home. He walked her to her room just like last time. When she opened the door and turned to tell him goodnight, she took Kouha's advice from earlier and kissed Judal lightly on the cheek. His eyes widened a bit before he tilted her head up to his face and brushed his lips against hers. She was shocked. He had just stolen her first kiss on the lips!

"Goodnight Aladdin." He walked away before she could think of anything to say.

She stood in the doorway for a moment before walking into the apartment, kicking off her shoes and pulling out her phone to text Kouha.

 _Breakfast tomorrow. Judal is coming. 8AM._

 _I'll see you there. How was the date?_

 _It was good. I kissed him on the cheek…And then he kissed me on the lips._

 _Aladdin! What kind of kiss was it?_

 _Kouha! I'm going to bed. Get there early and I'll talk to you about it._

Then, to Judal.

 _Breakfast tomorrow 8AM._

* * *

And now Aladdin has had her first kiss. Coming up, Judal is going to meet Aladdin's friends over the next few chapters.

Poll is going down very soon so vote if you haven't yet.

Don't forget to review!

Until Next Time

-Kizuna


	15. Reunion of the Mischievous Two

Aladdin got up early. She had some time off because most of the music videos were filmed and needed to be edited and looked over for any mistakes or necessary improvements before they moved on to the last few. She climbed into the shower, relishing the hot water and the massage setting. She had to shampoo her hair twice to get rid of all the stupid hair spray and gel they had put in her hair for the shoot the day before. She had managed to brush through it and get it to look nice for Judal last night, but there was no way it was going to happen again and the stuff made her hair feel gross. She conditioned her hair really well and used a new body wash Solomon had gotten her. It smelled good, a mix of floral and fruit, peach and jasmine? Wait, what? That sounded like a really weird combination when she looked at it but it smelled good so she shrugged it off.

She put on lotion after her shower and brushed through her hair. She made coffee then returned to her vanity to put on makeup and style her hair. She was going to curl it, but opted to just leave it straight. The usual eyeliner, mascara, and lip-gloss took five minutes with her practiced hands. She looked through her closet to pick out an outfit. There wasn't much inside. She needed to do some laundry. She didn't have many clean clothes left. She looked out the window but gave up and looked at the weather forecast on her phone instead. It was cold outside. And it was going to rain soon and last throughout the entire day. She moved to her dresser, looking through several drawers before finding a thick red cardigan. She pulled a casual dark grey dress out of her closet, one of the few clean items she had left. She pulled them both on and looked at herself in the mirror. I wasn't horrible, but Kouha was definitely going to give her a lecture again. She gave up improving things after a minute and just pulled on a pair of boots, grabbing her lighter rain coat out of the closet and putting it in a pile with her purse, finished her coffee, and called a cab.

It was raining when she exited the building and ran to the cab, rattling off the address before relaxing in her seat and looking at her phone. Kouha was about to leave his house. She texted her dad the usual good morning, then watched the rain hit the window of the taxi. When they stopped in front of the little place, she paid the man twice what she owed him, he was the driver she saw the most often, and he was always polite to her and didn't bug her about the whole celebrity thing, which she appreciate.

"Thanks for the ride, Sam!"

"Sure thing kid."

She was the first to arrive. She sat at a table and ordered hot chocolate. She gave the waitress her card to run through the machine then so that neither Kouha nor Judal could pay, like they both were in the habit of doing.

Kouha showed up ten minutes after her, rather lacking in the disguise department. When Aladdin gave him a questioning look he said, "I really didn't feel like doing anything today. I'll pull up my hood if I need to. I've had a very bad morning. MeiMei wouldn't get up and En wasn't in the mood to deal with Mei's laziness so he started yelling and it was just a disaster."

"I'm sorry. That sounds stressful."

"Whatever, just promise to take me with you wherever it is you are going today. I don't want to go home to any of the stepsisters. They are so freaking annoying. Please tell me you don't have work."

"I was just going to spend the day at home, I don't have anything to do today. You can come if you want."

"Ali this is why you are my favorite. So, onto more important matters while a certain someone still hasn't arrived. How was the kiss?"

Aladdin blushed. "It was…nice."

"Is that really all you're going to give me? Was it passionate, sweet, did it leave you wanting more?"

"It was, well, I don't know. It was like a promise. It was barely there. He kinda just brushed his lips against mine. It saw over in a second."

Kouha grinned and was about to ask more when Judal entered. "Incoming."

Judal walked over to the table and sat on one of the remaining chairs. "Chibi, this is too early in the morning."

"You were at the coffee shop earlier than this the other day."

"When did you become sassy."

"Judal, its been a while."

"Like what? Three years?"

Kouha smirked. "Something like that. The label isn't happy that you haven't come back yet."

"Sucks for them. I don't give a shit what they want. I'll go back when I'm too bored to stay away."

"You haven't changed at all."

The waitress came over and asked if they were ready to order. Kouha looked at her with interest and smiled brightly. She was a shy little thing, all innocent eyes and lavender colored hair.

"Good morning beautiful. I'll take the French toast and coffee." She blushed.

Judal was still looking at the menu as he spoke. "Coffee and the original omelet."

"I'll have the meat lovers omelet please. And Leraje, can I get another hot chocolate please?"

She smiled at Aladdin. They had been chemistry partners before Aladdin had left school. "Of course Aladdin. I'll be right out with your food."

"You know her?"

"Yeah we were lab partners for a semester. She is a year older than me though."

"Can I-"

"Kouha, I don't know why you even ask me. If you want to go on a date with her, I don't have any right to stop you. I don't even know her that well. We just got along really well, she was always really nice but she is really shy."

"I see you are still the flirt, huh Kouha?"

"Aw, jealous of my amazing ability to seduce women Judal? I could give you some tips."

"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

The food arrived.

"Guys, hurry up and eat. I don't want to get spotted and none of us are particularly well disguised."

Kouha finished first, and then walked over to the kitchen area to flirt with Leraje. Judal watched Aladdin push the food on her plate around. He took some of his omelet and stuffed it in her unsuspecting mouth. She looked at him wide-eyed.

"What did I say about eating Chibi?"

She glared at him and swallowed the food. Kouha returned. "Aladdin, you aren't supposed to pay for the food. It was my turn to pay."

"Kouha, you say that every time we go out. And since I invited you I think I should pay! Sometimes you should let me treat you to things, since you always do the same for me!"

He just sighed. "Fine, whatever. Your Christmas gift is going to be huge, just because of this. Let's go, the rain is picking up. Judal you should come too."

"And where is it you want me to go?"

"Aladdin's place."

Judal rolled his eyes. "Did you drive?"

"No, the family driver brought me here. I'll call him, he can be here in five minutes."

"My car is outside. Shut up and start walking. Red heads aren't allowed to sit in the front seat."

"How rude!"

Aladdin just laughed. She was glad they got along.

Hello!

Judal and Kouha are getting along well, and soon Judal will be meeting her other friends, so look forward to that.

I really can't wait to get all the introductions over with so that I can move on to the next part of the story, because I really am excited to write it. So much drama! It's going to be great.

What do you think about Kouha and Leraje getting into a relationship? I had some people say they liked the idea of him being a play boy and being with someone, so let me know if you want me to continue the relationship with Leraje or continue the player angle. (I like them both so whatever works for you guys.) :D

Anyway please review and visit the poll before it goes down!

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	16. Growing Heartbeat

Judal navigated the streets to Aladdin's apartment, parking in the underground lot. In the apartment Kouha insisted that they play music together in the piano room.

"Aladdin, we haven't practiced together in forever! You were in Australia then I was in San Francisco and then there's now."

"Calm down Kouha. We have all day."

"But Aladdin we have Judal here too! That's so much talent in one room. Let's go."

"We're coming you little flirt. Calm the hell down."

Judal slid onto the piano bench, playing a song Kouha requested. Aladdin was getting tea for the three of them and Kouha was singing along with Judal's playing. Judal transitioned to one of Aladdin's songs and she came in singing, harmonizing with Kouha. Judal changed to one of Kouha's songs, then to another of Aladdin's, then one of his own. Kouha's phone went off after an hour of this.

"Hello?"

…

"What the hell Kougyoku?...Fine I'll ask. Aladdin can Kougyoku and blonde come visit."

"Um, sure I guess that's fine. Whatever works."

Kouha rattled off the address and hung up the phone. Half an hour later Kougyoku showed up with a very confused Alibaba.

"Um, Kougyoku, what are we doing here?"

(Aladdin) "Alibaba! I didn't know you were coming. We are all in the piano room."

"Hi Aladdin. I didn't know we were coming here either. Kougyoku said she wanted to practice her singing a bit."

"Hey old hag long time no see."

"Judal?"

"So I want to continue singing with Ali and Judal so if you guys would just be quiet or choose a song that would be great."

"Can we sing Sinbad's new song?" (Kougyoku)

"No" (Kouha, Judal, and Aladdin together)

Alibaba quickly suggested one of Aladdin's songs, which Judal started playing before anyone said anything else. Alibaba took out his guitar and started playing with Judal. Everyone took turns singing. Eventually, Judal took Alibaba's guitar and made Aladdin play the piano part. Alibaba slid onto the piano bench next to Aladdin, much to Judal's distaste. Judal kept glaring at Alibaba causing Kouha to chuckle before he pulled the oblivious boy off the bench and in between him and Kougyoku.

The day passed like this, Kouha and Kougyoku leaving midway through the afternoon after Kouen called them sounding less then pleased that they had left him with the stepsisters all day. Alibaba left a little while after that. Judal kept playing the piano, even after Aladdin stopped singing because she didn't want to strain her voice.

"Do you want to eat dinner here?"

Judal arched an eyebrow. "You cook?"

"I can, but I was thinking more along the lines of pizza. I don't feel like cooking right now."

"Yeah whatever. No mushrooms."

Aladdin moved into the kitchen, calling the pizza place down the street for a pepperoni pizza. The empty feeling in her chest completely forgotten she smiled, she liked feeling like this. She got a drink for Judal and herself and moved back into the piano room, placing them on the little table in the corner and dragging the table closer to the piano. Judal started playing a new melody. Aladdin relaxed, letting the music pull her in. She decided to stop worrying about what he would do and just leaned her head against Judal's shoulder. He glanced over at her but didn't say anything, so she took it as an okay.

Aladdin's heart began beating quicker and she blushed.

He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he liked sitting with her like this. She was growing on him.

The doorbell interrupted their little moment. Aladdin's brow furrowed. "They said it would take forty five minutes. Its only been ten."

* * *

Hello!

It is a short chapter I know but I really was having problems writing it. The words just really didn't want to come. I had a plan to make this a long chapter and introduce more people and everything, but I wrote it and I didn't like the way it worked so I rewrote everything and I still don't really like it but I can make it work.

Shit is going to go down soon.

I will write a request from anyone who can guess who is at the door correctly.

Please review!

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	17. You're Warm

Aladdin opened the door to find Solomon standing on the other side.

"Dad?"

"I have the information you wanted about-" Judal comes out of the piano room and towards the door. Solomon catches himself before saying Judal's name. "The new section of the homeschooling program. It still isn't finished but that's the outline of what we are adding."

Aladdin catches on immediately. "Oh good I was wondering when you would be finished with that. Um, Judal this is my dad. Dad, this is Judal." She was at a loss for what to do.

Solomon smiles at Judal and offers his hand, "Just Solomon is fine."

Judal takes his hand. "The head of Alma Torran? I read the report you just published."

"Did you?"

"Yeah. Great idea. Your workers are idiots though. They ask stupid-ass questions. They don't have any common sense."

"I wouldn't say that. They just need another step before they get where they need to be."

"You pay them to know what questions to ask. If they can't figure out shit that basic then you should just fire them and hire people who aren't fucking idiots."

Aladdin trying to keep things from getting any worse intervenes. "So are you staying for pizza? Or do you have plans?"

"Oh, no I have to go see your mom. She is about to get discharged."

"Really? Does she still have to stay in bed?"

"Yes, but she is allowed to go out for a few hours a day now. They want her to start building her strength back up."

"That's good. You should go then. I don't want her to have to wait."

"Have fun you two."

Judal raised an eyebrow at him but didn't say anything. Aladdin just smiled. The pizza guy comes after a few minutes. Aladdin turns on a comedy movie and grabs a slice of pizza. Judal watches her for a minute before sitting down on the couch next to her. When they finish eating Aladdin leaned against Judal's shoulder again.

"Does my shoulder look like a pillow Chibi?"

"Normally my head would be on the couch but your body is in the way so I'm improvising."

"I see."

"You're warm."

"Yeah, that happens when blood pumps through my veins."

"No need to be all sassy. Jeez."

Aladdin moved to get up and sit on the other couch but Judal rested his head on top of hers before she could move away. His arms snaked around her waist and pulled her closer. She opened her mouth to say something but changed her mind and just snuggled closer to him. Yeah, she liked this.

They fell asleep watching the movie like that.

~~~Solomon's impression on Judal~~~

He's bright. Those researchers were asking the wrong questions. He seemed as though he cared for Aladdin, based off the expression on his face when he mentioned Sheba in the hospital. He used too much foul language for Solomon's taste but he could deal with it. Aladdin seemed happy with him. If Aladdin was happy, then he could deal with it.

* * *

Hello!

I know it was short but I think it was super cute. Also! Shit is going to go down really soon. Be ready.

Poll is going down super soon so please vote if you haven't already.

Please review.

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	18. What the Hell!

Aladdin woke up to her phone ringing. It was Jafar's ringtone. She moved away from Judal slowly and then ran across the room to pick up the phone before it went to voice mail.

"Hello?"

"Aladdin, can you meet me at the pancake house? I want to talk to you about the new album. Sinbad wants to know how you feel about the tour."

"Yeah, sure. I'll be there as soon as I can. I just woke up so it may be a while."

"Take your time. I'll be there in an hour." He hung up.

Aladdin headed to her bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. She brushed her hair and got dressed, skipping makeup for the day. She scribbled a note for Judal to see later, grabbed her purse, and ran out the door while calling a cab.

"Hey Sam! Pancake house please."

"Sure thing kid."

On the way she looked through the file. It had Judal's full name, his age, phone number, and three addresses-one to an apartment in LA, one to a house in Tahoe, one to a house in Italy,- and a police report detailing how his parents were killed in an accident with a drunk driver. Her smile faded, the uncle he was passed off to didn't have that great a record.

She got there fifteen minutes later. Jafar was already seated with coffee in hand.

She ordered.

"So what did we need to talk about?

"Your new album's tour. We were planning Europe. We've been talking to Ugo about it. Sinbad wanted to know if there was anything you wanted to see in Europe in particular. Or any places you wanted to perform specifically. You have a lot of options based on how popular you have become and how quickly this album sold."

"Oh, I don't know. I definitely want to spend time in France and see as much as possible. I've been studying French really hard for the last year."

"Okay, I think we can work with that. Anything else?"

"I don't really know. I haven't thought about any sight-seeing or anything; I didn't know we would be able to."

"Well, think about it a little; talk to Ugo and your Dad. Nothing is set in stone yet so we still have time to make changes and travel plans."

They finished eating, continuing their conversation about the tour. They spent almost two hours talking about different stage effects and opening bands and singers. Aladdin had a few singers and bands in mind that she mentioned.

"Where are you headed after this Aladdin?"

"I'm meeting a new friend at the park with the big lake. We're going to go shopping."

"Who's your new friend?"

"Oh his name is Judal."

"I see. Well, you don't want to be late, do you Aladdin? Go on ahead. I'll see you tomorrow."

Aladdin ran out the door and down the block. She made her way through the streets and to the park. When she got there she found a bench in the quieter side underneath several trees.

She waited for a few minutes.

~~~Jafar/Sinbad (back to when Aladdin was leaving)~~~

Jafar watched the girl race away. Sinbad had told him about how violet Judal could be. He was worried. He pulled out his phone and dialed the first number on speed dial.

"Sin, you were right. She's been spending time with Judal. They are going to meet at the park with the lake we normally meet at."

"I'll go make sure she is okay. Don't stress Jafar. I got this."

Sinbad pulled his car out onto the street. He was maybe five minutes away. He would get there before her.

He parked on a nearby street and walked to the park, standing on the side of the park opposite where she would be coming from. He watched her sit down on a bench under the shade of several trees. He wasn't going to lose his biggest grossing artist like this, he refused.

He walked out from his hiding place, moving towards the bridge that ran across a narrow portion of the lake and called out to her. She jerked her head towards him. Why was Sinbad here? He smiled at her and waved her over. Reluctantly she stood up and met him at her side of the bridge.

"Hi Sinbad. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I haven't been here in forever so I decided to walk through on my way to pick up Jafar. What are you doing?"

"A friend and I agreed to meet here before going shopping. I need some new clothes. I spilled my coffee into my laundry basket and ruined a bunch of stuff. It was all stained."

"Do I know this friend?"

"I don't think so. An old family friend is visiting from out of town, so it wouldn't make any sense for you to know them." A lie. Sinbad knew Judal and Judal wasn't an old family friend but she didn't want Sinbad to give her another lecture. As far as she was concerned Judal was a nice person, he just didn't like to show it. He hid behind his profanity and his intelligence.

He gave her an unconvinced look. "I see. You know, you could have Yamraiha design a wardrobe for you to fit the celebrity image. Buying clothes off the rack isn't standard practice for singers as popular as you are."

"I don't think it's smart to spend money on that stuff. I'm perfectly capable of dressing myself and it isn't like getting custom made shorts is going to change my music so I don't see any point. It just isn't that important."

Sinbad gave her a huge smile. "That's what makes you so special Aladdin, you don't get caught up in the fame like so many others do."

"Um, yeah I guess." She didn't like the look on his face.

Sinbad glanced over Aladdin's head, spotting Judal moving towards them. Judal looked up from the ground and made eye contact with Sinbad, frown turning his lips down. 'What the hell is he doing here?' Sinbad looked back to Aladdin, giving her a seductive look before leaning in, pulling her face towards him and pressing their lips together.

Judal was shocked. He was pissed. He felt betrayed. She was kissing him! She was fucking kissing him! And he had been ready to ask her out, officially. Judal was about to turn away. He didn't want to see this. If it had been anyone else kissing her he would have killed them, but it was Sinbad and it hurt like hell, the memories and the hurt from a few years before resurfacing. His heart felt like it was being torn apart and stomped on a second time.

Aladdin didn't move at first, completely shocked. She couldn't register what was happening. It took her a moment to understand what was happening, but when she did revulsion ran through her, freezing her veins. The perv was kissing her! He was like, twice her age and he was kissing her! And he was her boss. She pushed him away, stepping back. She slapped him as hard as she could. Her palm was stinging but she ignored it.

"What the hell are you doing?" She could feel the tears. She felt violated. The hole in her chest was back, threatening to swallow her and leave nothing but an empty shell behind. She needed to get away from him. She needed to find Judal and feel his warmth burn away the ice in her chest.

Judal could here the **wrongness** in her voice. Something was wrong with her. She had pushed him away and slapped him. So they weren't together? And she had just used an actual "bad word." It was the first time he had ever heard her say anything of the like. His mind was reeling.

"I'm kissing my girlfriend." Sinbad said with a slight smirk. He wanted Judal to leave the picture, he could work damage control with Aladdin later; she was gullible enough to fall for his lies.

"You should get your eyes checked then because I already claimed her. Chibi is mine." Aladdin turned and Judal could see the tears in her eyes. Yeah, Sinbad was fucking dead. Aladdin shouldn't have that look in her eyes; it was a milder version of the same look he had seen in his own eyes. He didn't want to see her bright eyes marred by that haunted look. He looked at her straight in the face. "Did you want him to kiss you Chibi?" If she had then he would walk away, but if the evidence he was looking at was right and she hadn't then he would beat the shit out of the back stabbing pervert.

"N-n-n-no I don't even know why he did that." She was scared or hurt or something Judal couldn't name and it pissed him off. He was done. Sinbad wasn't allowed to molest another minor. It had been bad enough that Sinbad had talked his way into Judal's pants, but making the same move on Aladdin was absolutely unacceptable.

His fist met Sinbad's jaw with a satisfying crunch. He landed another punch to Sinbad's stomach and a kick to his shins before Sinbad's knee connected with his side. Sinbad landed a hit that would result in a black eye, but he got Sinbad behind the knees, bringing him to the ground.

Aladdin didn't know how to stop them. Neither of them were listening to her pleas. She couldn't get them to stop no matter what she said. She heard someone off to the side on the phone with the police. They would be here in minutes, but if that happened then Judal would be arrested, and that would be bad. She couldn't let that happen. Aladdin pulled out her phone and dialed. It was picked up after the first ring. She didn't wait for any kind of greeting. She was so upset, she could barely breathe. She could hear the ragged sobs coming from her; feel the tears pouring down the sides of her face.

"Daddy, I need you to come to the old park. I need help. I don't know what to do."

* * *

Hello!

Soooooo….What do you guys think? Pretty exciting stuff. Get ready to see Solomon be a cool dad and some more cute Alaju scenes.

I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to have Jafar react once he understands what actually happened, but I think Kouha and Hakuei will be taking action against Sinbad. Maybe. Kinda depends on what Jafar does and if I go with plan A or plan B for Ugo's next move. Decisions decisions.

Ummmmm. So, I'm about to leave to visit family really soon so my update rate may be a little slow for a little while.

Please Review, it keeps me motivated. I have soo much work to do before I leave it isn't even funny, but I decided to procrastinate and finish up writing this chapter instead.

Oh, also let me know if there is anything you would like to see Aladdin and Judal do together, actions against Sinbad you want a friend of Aladdin's to take, ect. I love hearing your ideas, they normally get my creative side working. So anything you want to see happen let me know and I will try to get it done.

The poll is now closed. Morgiana and Hakuryuu were the most popular couple, followed by Alibaba and Kougyoku. I'll start adding in more development and scenes with them soon. Let me know if you want to see anything happening with them. Also, I introduced Leraje as a possible love interest for Kouha a little while ago. Please let me know if you like the idea or want me to go in a different direction (at this point I would probably just make him a play boy if you don't like this pairing unless you have someone you want specifically.)

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	19. A Father's Protection

Solomon changed direction immediately. If Aladdin was calling him and asking for his help, something was wrong. She hadn't called him daddy in years, since they had grown apart after Sheba first became sick. He looked at Paimon and mouthed to her to cancel whatever he had to be at today.

He listened to Aladdin's broke explanation of what had happened and tried to understand; but her words weren't making sense, they were barely words. She wasn't making much sense. She was panicking. "Aladdin, I'm on my way. I will be there in two minutes. I need you to relax and take a deep breath, just calm down. I won't let anything bad happen." He listened to Aladdin breathing and heard the insults from the fight in the background. He sped his car up, breaking the speed limit. He wasn't that far away. He got out of the car and ran over to the fight. The cops were just behind him, pulling up as he reached the scene.

"I could have you arrested. Aladdin is sixteen. She isn't allowed to be in a relationship with anyone older than eighteen."

"You don't have any fucking proof. And you are guiltier than I am on that account. There are witnesses who saw you kiss her!"

That was news to Solomon. He and Sinbad were going to have even more problems then he had thought.

Solomon held onto Aladdin, asking her to explain to him very clearly what had happened. This time she did, relaying everything. To say Solomon was furious would be an understatement. He felt the need to destroy the Sindria Label. He looked over and saw the officers cuffing Sinbad and Judal. He let go of Aladdin a bit, holding her hand instead and walking over to the officer leading Judal away. Jafar arrived and moved towards Sinbad. He stopped when he saw the look in Aladdin's eyes. Something was very wrong, especially if she was clinging to Solomon like that. Her poor relationship with her father wasn't a secret to anyone.

Solomon spoke quietly to the officer. After a moment Judal was free to go. Jafar was talking to the officer holding Sinbad. The officer was in the middle of taking off the cuffs when Judal's officer spoke into his ear. A look crossed the other officers' face and he tightened the cuffs instead. Jafar was confused. Sinbad wouldn't tell him what happened. He walked over to Aladdin, demanding to know what had happened. She just leaned against Solomon more, reaching out and pulling Judal closer to her with her free hand. She didn't want to talk to anyone right now, especially not Jafar. He would always take Sinbad's side.

Solomon led the two away from the crowd and the police. He was starting to calm down. One look at Aladdin and he felt the rage try to take over again. Aladdin just looked back and forth between him and Judal before closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them she spoke quietly.

"I don't want to be here. I want to go away. I don't want to go back." It wasn't a very clear statement but Solomon understood what she wanted. She wanted to get away from Portland, away from the reminder of this incident until she had had time to cope with it. She didn't want to go back to Sindria. He didn't want her to go back to Sindria either. He wasn't going to deny her anything at this point. He should have been more careful about the people she was working with. He pulled out his phone. Ugo picked up in seconds. He relayed what had happened, saying Ugo needed to come pick him up at the park. He looked over at Aladdin again.

"Do you want to drive or fly?"

"I don't know. I don't even know where to go." Judal looked confused. 'What the hell is the old man talking about? He's sending her away? Well, in that case-'

"Use my house Chibi. You can practice all the piano you want and play in the snow. It should start snowing soon."

Solomon was a bit surprised that Judal had offered. He hadn't expected that. Solomon nodded. He liked that idea. He pressed the keys to his corvette into Aladdin's hands. He looked at Judal and asked for the keys to his rental car and his hotel room.

"Why?"

"So that I can take care of things while you two are away. There is no point in you paying for a rental car or a hotel room you aren't using. I'll take care of it. Just get going." He saw the disbelief in Judal's face. "Yes, I am giving you permission to go with my daughter for a vacation to Tahoe with just the two of you for however long you want. If you hurt her I will destroy you and everything you have worked to build as an artist with Al Thamen. Stop wasting time and give me the keys." Judal handed them over.

"I can't tell if you are the best dad in the world or the worst. Thanks for not letting me get arrested old man."

Solomon would have objected to the nick name on a normal day, but this wasn't a normal day. He just turned to Aladdin and kissed her on the cheek. "Go have fun and get this incident out of your head. Call Ugo or me later so we know you are okay. I'll transfer money into your account so you can get whatever you need down there. He pushed the two of them over to the car, smiling as Aladdin climbed into the drivers seat, waved, and pulled away. Then he turned back to the scene of police. Ugo walked up beside him. "We have things to do, Ugo. You should have seen the look on her face. I don't think I've ever seen Aladdin scared like that."

"I have been meaning to talk to you about the label. I don't think she has been very happy with them. Like I said before, I think they overwork her. And they have been pushing her to do things she isn't comfortable with. That kiss was the last straw for her, I think."

"What do you think I should do? If I make a move against the label it could be bad for her."

"Don't make a move against them. Sindria and Al Thamen are the only label's worth signing with recently."

"Are you saying what I think you are saying?"

"Expand Alma Torran. You have all the other departments under control and running smoothly at this point with the research and overseas business. I know enough about the entertainment business. I've heard rumors about how poorly Al Thamen treats its artists, and I have first hand knowledge of what Sindria does. We could draw enough current artists and find new talent to make it work. I have connections to choreographers and directors, and if we are talking seriously they all go where the money and the talent is. It's a reasonable move."

"So this is the proposal you've been waiting to tell me about?"

Ugo smiled and nodded. "There is a friend of Aladdin's that could wreak some real havoc. He is quite protective of Aladdin. We can give him a call if Aladdin doesn't tell him or a rumor doesn't reach him first. I don't think Sindria should get off without any form of retaliation, I just don't think you should be the one to make a retaliatory move on that level. Run them out of the business."

"I see. Fine, let's get to work. I want this up and running by the time those two get back. Whatever it takes I want to crush that man."

They left, first taking care of things for Judal, moving his things out of the hotel and returning the car. Continuing on back to Alma Torran headquarters to begin their work.

* * *

Hello!

So Solomon and Ugo have a new plan. Sheba will start appearing pretty soon too. Aladdin and Judal have a few obstacles to get over coming up.

What did you guys think? Let me know.

For clarification purposes:

Ugo thinks that all the pressure Sinbad has put on Aladdin over the past few months had been weighing her down. The kiss Sinbad forced on her was just what pushed her over the edge and to the point of no return. She will not go back to Sindria.

Alma Torran is a company that works in all different industries (medicine, law, business, ect.) They started as a researching company about the lost Kings of the old world and grew after Solomon made a big discovery.

Since Alma Torran is so influential around the world, bringing down an entertainment company the size of Sindria wouldn't be that difficult. The reason Ugo keeps Solomon from doing that is it may hurt Aladdin's reputation or image to audiences, and since Aladdin has worked so hard to get where she is they don't want to do that.

~So yeah. Questions, comments, concerns, or requests? Let me know

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	20. Road Trip Part I

The first hour was silent. Judal just stared out the window and Aladdin focused on driving. She was working her way through the events of the day. She needed the quite time to process what had happened.

"I didn't know you could drive Chibi."

"I can drive, I just don't normally. I spend the time sleeping or doing schoolwork instead. I have a car too; I just never use it. It's at my parent's house. I didn't need to buy one but mom insisted that I have one to give me the option. Something about not feeling trapped with no way out."

Silence again. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine. Just some bruises. It's no big deal. Wait, stay in the left lane Chibi. If you go right we'll have to backtrack. What about you, are you okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"He kissed you when you didn't want him to. That really sucks. Are you okay?"

"Yeah I guess. I was so surprised, and then I got all cold in my chest. It felt really gross. He didn't taste very nice."

Judal laughed. Aladdin glanced over at him. A small smile crossed her lips. He was okay; she had been worried. She pulled off the freeway and into the small town. She pulled into the parking lot of a drug store. She turned off the car and dragged Judal into the store. She walked through the aisles, picking up bandages, arnica, antibiotic, Advil, snacks, and drinks. She pulled out her wallet and paid for the items, adding a pack of gum as an afterthought. Judal took the bags out to the car and climbed back into the passenger seat. Aladdin took them to a little diner next. She brought the bag of medicine with them. They were seated and ordered quickly.

Aladdin dragged Judal into the family bathroom at the back of the diner. It wouldn't matter; no one was here to see them anyway. She wiped the dirt off Judal's face. She rubbed the arnica around his eye gently to help with the bruising. She slathered on antibiotic and bandaged his hands where the knuckles had split and bled a bit. She made him show her everywhere that Sinbad had hit, rubbing arnica onto the spots to help with bruising. Then she took him back to the table. He was going to protest her care, but it seemed to make her feel better so he decided against it. She gave him two Advil to swallow with his drink. It would help with any soreness he felt later. They ate quickly then left.

Judal told her to keep driving. They programed the address of Judal's house into the GPS and followed the instructions. It would take almost a full eleven hours of straight driving to get to his house. It was too late in the day; they would have to stop at a hotel for the night. They drove until night fell, stopping a few times to stretch their legs. They ate the junk food Aladdin bought throughout the day, leaving neither of them hungry to eat dinner. Judal pointed out a high-class hotel. Aladdin was to tired to argue at that point, even if she didn't feel they were dressed appropriately for the place. Judal took care of getting a room, taking her by the hand and leading them to the ninth floor.

They entered the room. "Those idiots. I told them two beds. Why can't people ever listen to what I say?" He hadn't asked for two beds.

"Just forget it Judal. I'm too tired to go back down and start the whole process over again. We slept like this before remember? It wasn't a problem then."

"Oh, and what makes you think I want to sleep in the same bed as you? Or that I won't try to take advantage of you Chibi?"

"Because I think you would have done it already. You had plenty of chances to do something earlier."

He smirked at that and pulled at her hand, wrapping his arms around her tightly. "You aren't allowed to kiss anyone else, got it?"

"I don't know what you are talking about." She was trapped in his arms, she couldn't move away, not that she really wanted to.

"I mean you are mine and I don't like to share. No kissing other people anymore." If she did, he would beat the shit out of them. She became his the moment she had perfectly harmonized with him in one of his songs that first day. She wasn't allowed to look at another man.

She looked up at him. She opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off by covering her mouth with his. She was his and he wasn't going to have her tell him off because he was telling her what to do. She needed to just accept it. It took her a minute but she relaxed into the kiss. It was obviously a new thing for her. She didn't know what to do. He smiled at that, lifting her up and setting her on the bed and lying down next to her before wrapping the covers around them both. "Goodnight Chibi."

* * *

Okay so I am no longer at home, I have arrived at my aunt's house and I'm so tired! I spent most of my flight editing and writing stuff for this story. I feel the need to take a nap.

You now have some of Aladdin's feelings on the kiss with Sinbad as well as Judal's possessive reaction. (Kinda)

Anyway I have to go now.

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	21. Road Trip Part II

Aladdin woke up curled up against Judal's chest. It was warm; as strange as it was for her to think abut, she felt at home. His face was buried in her hair, which was still in its braid. His hair had been taken out, tangled around both of them. She ran a hand through it, admiring the silky feel. She yawned still not fully awake.

Judal started to move. As he did Aladdin realized their legs were tangled together too. They were **really** close; Aladdin blushed. She felt Judal's arms tighten around her more as he turned their bodies so she was half lying on his chest.

"You fell asleep pretty fast Chibi. I was so bored."

"You're the one who told me to go to sleep. 'Goodnight' means that it's time to go to sleep. If you didn't want me to go to sleep you should have told me or done something else."

"It sounds like you're saying I should have kept kissing you." Judal knew her face must be bright red, even if he couldn't see it.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." A long silence. "If you want to do it again it's okay."

"Oh? Was it better than Sinbad?"

Aladdin's face was on fire and she hid her face, turning into Judal's chest more. "It wasn't gross."

He smirked. "I hope not. What did it feel like Chibi?"

"My heart started beating really fast and my stomach felt all warm. Can we stop talking about this please? It's embarrassing."

"But you get so cute when you're embarrassed."

"I liked it. You were better at it then Sinbad was. Happy now?"

"Actually yes." She glared at him and her cheeks puffed out.

"What time do we need to leave? I have no idea where we are or how far we are going. I wasn't really paying attention to the GPS yesterday."

"We should leave soon. We still have a few hours of driving left. I don't want to hit any traffic, and I want to get there with the sun still up. Which reminds me, I need to call the cleaning crew and have them get the house set up. I don't want to have to deal with any of that shit when we get there."

He sat up, pulling Aladdin with him. She tried to move out of his way but he held her in place with one arm, using the other to grab his phone and call his usual cleaning crew. He called the maid whose number he had, telling her to get the others and take care of the house. He wanted the kitchen to be stocked, all the dishes to be cleaned, bed to be made, and everything else to be cleaned in the usual way.

When he got off the phone, he leaned his cheek against Aladdin's head. They stayed like that for several minutes before Judal told her to get ready to leave. Aladdin's clothes were extremely wrinkled and had food stains on them from all the eating in the car. Her muscles were stiff. She didn't really feel like driving anymore. She tried to smooth away the wrinkles but they wouldn't go away. She looked to see if Judal had the same problem only to feel a trickle of annoyance. His clothes were perfect, like he had just pulled them on, not spent hours in the car the day before and slept in them. She was jealous. He looked perfect and she looked like a mess. He didn't have to put any effort in. She remembered all the lectures she had gotten from Yamraiha, Jafar, and Sinbad about taking care to keep her appearance together-makeup, hair, nails, clothes, shoes, accessories. She pushed those thoughts away. There had been a time when none of that had mattered.

When Judal saw her rumpled clothes he chuckled. "Not one to care about image Chibi?"

She just shot him an annoyed look, grabbing her purse from where she had dropped it the night before. "Let's go, the sooner we do this the sooner we can relax."

Judal smirked. Following her to the valet and into the car. He was walking towards the passenger seat when Aladdin threw something at him. He looked at what he had caught-the car keys-then to her.

"I don't want to drive again. Besides, you like fast cars right? Have fun. This is dad's old car anyway. He won't care."

On what planet would any man not care what happened to a car this beautiful? Judal just shook his head at her before climbing into the drivers seat and pulling away from the hotel. Aladdin looked out the window for a while, but after a while her eyes migrated to Judal. She just stared at him.

"Is there something on my face Chibi? I don't like being stared at."

"Yeah, well there isn't anything more interesting to look at around here so you're going to have to deal with it. Pay attention to the road."

It was still early. They had woken up before the sun had risen. There wasn't anybody on the roads yet. Judal looked around before he grinned at Aladdin. "You have your seatbelt on?"

"Of course. What kind of question is that?"

Judal didn't answer, instead pushing down on the accelerator. The car picked up speed quickly, racing down the freeway. Aladdin was nervous at first, but relaxed after the initial shock passed. She liked the speed. They didn't see a single car for ten minutes. As soon as Judal saw one though, he slowed down, coming to a more reasonable speed.

"That was fun. Why did you slow down?"

"I don't want another driver to call the cops on us. Do you want to eat now or wait? There is a town coming up soon."

"Let's eat now. And coffee! I want coffee."

"You have plenty of energy, why the hell do you need caffeine?"

"Because caramel coffee tastes good."

"Oh, you're one of those."

They stopped, getting food and coffee. They continued on for several hours, sometimes talking and sometimes staying silent. Aladdin looked at the huge pine trees and the beautiful mountains. This place was gorgeous.

"We're almost there Chibi. Like half an hour."

A few minutes later Aladdin saw the lake. It was huge. It reflected the sun. She couldn't put into words the beauty she saw. She wanted to look at the water up close.

"Can we go spend time at the lake?"

"We can, but it's going to be really cold. It's wintertime, and the water is always cold. It isn't a good idea to spend a lot of time out at the lake right now. It's better in summer. It feels all refreshing."

Aladdin was a little disappointed. She wanted to go swimming and kayaking.

Judal continued, "Over the summer we can go out on the lake. I'll take you sailing."

"Summer?"

"If you want to. I'll sneak away from Al Thamen for a few weeks and we can spend time here. You need to remember not to overwork yourself Chibi. Little ones can get sick easily."

"Would you stop referring to me as little please?"

Judal laughed. "But you are little, Chibi. I'm simply calling it as I see it."

Aladdin groaned and laid her head against the dashboard. She felt the car slowing. They pulled into a small drive. It looked like they were maybe coming to a gated community.

Judal kept driving, stopping at the only house on the road.

"Come on Chibi. I'll show you around. We can go shopping for clothes and stuff for you tomorrow."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the front door. He walked her through every room in the house. Every bedroom, office, the library, sun room, dining room, kitchen, living room, home-gym, ending with the music room. Aladdin gasped when she saw it. There were so many instruments! She walked up to the piano. It was a work of art. The wood was polished and shiny. She ran her hand across the keys. "This room is amazing. It has to be my favorite."

Judal smiled. "Yeah, my favorite too. I tend to spend most of my time in here." He grabbed her hand again, pulling her towards his room. "Chibi, you need to put some more clothes in. You have goose bumps." He grabbed a long sleeve shirt and a sweatshirt from his closet, throwing them on the bed for her to change into, pulling a pair of sweats out of the dresser and throwing them on the bed too. "Those have a drawstring to fix the waist size, but you are going to have to deal with the length." Aladdin put on the clothes after he left the room, then went around the house looking for him. He was in the theater room looking at movies.

He set up an action movie and flopped onto the couch. She sat down beside him. Looked over at her, noticing the worn out look on her face. She needed some time to rest and relax. Without any makeup to cover the wear and tare of overwork she looked horrible, sick almost. Judal waited a minute before he tugged on her braid, forcing her head to rest against him. She was tense for a few moments before relaxing. After a minute of sitting in that position, both of them uncomfortable, Judal scooted Aladdin over into his lap, ignoring her protests. She fell asleep almost immediately. He finished the movie before grabbing the blanket laid on the back of the couch and draping it over them.

* * *

Hello!

SOOOO I tried really frickin hard to get another chapter to you guys this morning.

I have to go. Please review and request things to be put into the story!

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	22. Planning

Aladdin had called him that morning. He had been "chaperoning" Alibaba and Kougyoku's date at Kouen's request. When Aladdin had started talking he had told her to wait and put the phone on speaker so Alibaba could here to, that way she wouldn't have to call him and tell the story again.

Sinbad was going to pay. No one was allowed to make Aladdin unhappy. He was already planning to avenge her. For now, he needed information on Sinbad. Step one; hire a private investigator, check. He wanted to know everything Sinbad did or was planning to do. He had a knack for sabotage. And his fan base was huge; he had power unlike Alibaba. Not as much power as Kouen or Sinbad, but he had enough to do some damage to Sinbad.

He wanted to know what that father of hers was doing. Step two, visit Solomon at Alma Torran's office. Her manager didn't look surprised to see him.

"I was going to call you if you didn't show up soon." He was? Kouha was mildly confused.

"So what's the plan, Solomon? You are going to do something right? Because if you aren't-"

"I'm expanding my company to work in entertainment." Well, that was blunt. Ugo chuckled. 'They both got straight to the point.'

"That's all? You are going to give your daughter another place to be overworked? Great idea. Sounds wonderful! It sounds like you are making more work for me, do I really have to deal with two idiot males in Aladdin's life? Because this is getting old."

"It isn't just to give her another place to work. I'm going to bury Sinbad's company. He has spent years building his reputation and finding a talent like Aladdin to draw people who don't like Sinbad's image. What happens to him when a name as influential as Alma Torran brings in singers like Aladdin and Judal? People who are already loved and focal points for their companies. He sinks. He won't have anything left."

"Impressive."

"I can't take any action against Sinbad that could lead back to me otherwise this whole plan may blow up in our faces, but you can." Kouha arched his brow. "Sabotage him. Make the next few months a living hell for him. I don't care how you do it, but I don't think he should get away with what he did."

Kouha's smirk was huge. "I think I'm capable of that. Tell me about this new entertainment venture."

Solomon explained everything he was aiming for. How jobs would be run, vacation times, and earnings. He explained some of his and Ugo's original ideas, not necessarily brand new, but recreated to bring in money and success without overworking the artists. He explained everything he wanted to do. Kouha smiled. "How interesting. You actually care about the people. Al Thamen and Sindria just care about the product of our work. I want in."

Solomon was taken aback. He hadn't thought the red-head would go against his current label. "Why?"

"Because I hate Al Thamen. It really sucks. And I want to work with Aladdin and Judal and others. I can't do that with Al Thamen. No out of company collaborations. As much as I like my siblings I want variety."

"I see. Well, welcome. I will be happy to have an artist of your talent with us."

"Do you even know what I do or are you just saying that?"

"You go back and forth between singing, acting, and modeling. You have quite the following."

"Someone did their homework. I have planning to do so I'll let myself out…Oh, and Kouen or Koumei will probably come talk to you. Actually it will probably be both."

After he left there was a moment of silence, then Solomon started laughing. "Ugo, I like this kid. Aladdin chooses the most interesting people. We should talk to her old friends to, the ones she used to perform with. They might join as minor artists if the conditions are better then what they were offered with Sindria. Aladdin would be happy it she could work with them again."

* * *

Guyssss!

So my aunt signed me up for this SAT prep course to take while i'm visiting her. I really really REALLY don't like vocab. It really is not my strong suit. I mean really? Maudlin? I spent thirty minutes trying to figure out what the affixes of this word are. It doesn't have any. At least according to my research. If any of you have helpful tips tell me pleaseeeee! BEcause I am really very done with this already. Actually I'm just really tired and my brain isn't working and I need to take an hour and just chill...Unfortunately that isn't going to happen.

I don't really think i'm making sense anymore so i'm going to go. Please don't forget to review and request things to be put in the story. I'm working on things i'm just a bit slower then normal because I have been watching my cousins. I'm working on finding a balance but it will take me probably two more days. We shall see. Stick with me.

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	23. Bad Blood

Judal woke up in the morning to Aladdin's coughing. He assumed she wasn't used to the altitude. He shook her a bit.

"Aladdin, you need to drink something. You need to stay hydrated otherwise your cough will get worse."

"Mhmmmm. I don't want to get up. I'm tired."

"Come on. I'm not going to take care of you if you get sick."

"I helped you with those injuries from your fight."

"Yes. Unfortunately for you I don't like to help people."

"You can be such a pain. Would you decide whether you are going to be mean or nice because it's giving me a headache when you keep changing your moods."

Judal rolled his eyes and picked Aladdin up bridal style. She squeaked when she was lifted and wrapped her arms around his neck to keep herself upright. He dropped her on a chair in the kitchen and made coffee. He could already tell it was going to be a cold day.

When Aladdin started coughing again Judal threw a bottle of water from the fridge at her. She barely caught it before it hit her in the face. She sent him a glare but didn't say anything, instead taking sips of the water. Her throat was soar for some reason and her body felt heavy. She didn't really want to do anything that day. Judal was sitting next to her at the table, drinking his coffee. She made a face when she saw that it was black. The stuff tasted horribly bitter black, she preferred cream and sugar.

"We should probably go get you some stuff to wear and take care of your hair or whatever. I don't really care but you probably wouldn't enjoy running around without clothes on."

Her cheeks didn't blush like he thought they would. He felt like something was wrong. She didn't have any snarky comeback. "Can we wait until tomorrow? I'm really tired and I don't really feel that well."

"I told you to drink something you idiot."

"I am! You are so annoying right now. Why are you being like this?"

"Because you aren't using your brain. The altitude here is higher than what you are used to. You need to take it easy and drink some water."

"I just asked you if we could stay here and rest today! You just told me to do what I asked to do! What the hell?"

"I have heard you curse more in the last forty eight hours then I have the entire time I've known you."

"Yeah, well, I'm extremely stressed out and I'm in an unfamiliar place and yesterday really sucked and now you are being a pain and I just can't deal with it. Okay? Would you lay off for a few minutes?! I'm not the one who has taken a year off I've been working! I thought we came here to relax and have fun. If you are going to make fun of me and lecture me the whole time then I'm going to go off somewhere on my own and Ugo can meet me there."

"Chibi, you are a bit sensitive today. I'm not acting any different from normal."

Aladdin just stood up and walked out of the room onto the deck outside. She was cold as soon as she stepped outside, but it felt good. Her skin was burning. She felt queasy. She wanted to go back to bed, but if she did Judal was going to be even more annoying.

After a few minutes Judal came outside and stood beside her, noticing her flushed face and shivering. She kept coughing every few minutes. When she started rubbing and clearing her throat he went inside. 'Great, she is fucking sick. Probably caught something from the purple haired idiot.' He made tea with honey and cursed when he couldn't find cold medicine in the bathroom. "Aladdin, get your ass inside and lie down."

"Who died and made you boss?"

"It's my house and I'm older then you. Are we done with the little kid questions now?"

Sniffle. "Whatever."

Her voice sounded really raspy. She was **sick**. 'This isn't good. I need to get her some medicine.' He handed her the tea and called one of the maids. He wanted the maid to get several different types of medicine so he could treat whatever symptoms Aladdin had. The maid wouldn't be at the house for another hour though, and Aladdin seemed to be getting worse by the minute. He thought about taking her to the doctor but decided against it; she probably wouldn't like that.

He refilled her tea three times before the maid finally arrived. He leaned their foreheads together so he could check her temperature again.

"Judal, if you keep coming so close you will get sick too. I'm fine just give me the stupid medicine and let me sleep. I'll be fine later. It's just a cold."

"You have a fever and nausea and you keep coughing and sniffling and your throat hurts. I'm going to worry and you are going to rest so shut up and close your eyes."

She spent the rest of the day in bed, only getting up to take more medicine or use the restroom. She texted Morgiana back when she got the boyfriend message. She had so called that couple months ago, Hakuryuu and Morgiana had been getting closer and closer to each other for the past year. 'I wonder how Alibaba is taking it. He is pretty dense.'

She drifted in and out of sleep after that, listening to music Judal played or watching movies on T.V. that she wasn't really paying attention to. She really wasn't feeling well.

Her dreams were full of Judal's singing.

* * *

Hello Hello Hello!

Soooooo I took a really long time to write a relatively short chapter, but at least it is something. I'm really sorry but I have been super busy at my aunt's house with this SAT camp and watching my cousins. I'm so freaking tired and I'm about to go out and do stuff with my aunt and her friend so I'm literally finishing/posting this as I walk out the door. Like my aunt is yelling for me right now.

But it's okay because this is important. Anyway please review and request things to go in the upcoming chapters. I'm going to try to post a bit more frequently but I'm not making any promises because the schedule at my aunts house is crazy. Okay, I really have to go but I will be back sooner than last time (hopefully).

Bye!

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	24. This Little Girl

It had been five days since Aladdin had gotten sick. She hadn't gotten any worse after the second day. She hadn't gotten any better, either. Judal made sure she got her medicine exactly on time, but even so her fever and her symptoms only went away a bit. She spent most of her time sleeping. Judal was worried.

When he played music the first two days she had focused on whatever instrument he was playing and guessed the song titles and artists. Now she would only open her eyes for a second before drifting back to sleep.

She dreamed of Judal's hands, gliding across piano keys and guitar strings. The instruments stretched, changed color, and the sound became distorted. The dreams made her head pound. Then she would wake up for a few seconds or minutes, just long enough to remember where she was before she fell asleep and started the process over again. She took medicine and drank water or chicken broth when Judal brought it to her, but she didn't know how much time had passed.

Judal called a doctor. He didn't want to make Aladdin move. Money didn't matter right now, if the stupid doctor was going to charge him some outrageous price he didn't care right now. The doctor spent almost an hour checking Aladdin. The doctor thought she had two different illnesses at once. One was affecting her sinuses and one affected her lungs and chest. He prescribed an antibiotic that should help with both problems, one more than the other. The doctor insisted that she stay in bed and keep sleeping; she needed to have plenty of water and as much food as she could keep down. If she lost too much more strength she might need to be hospitalized.

Now Judal was really worried. He had been with her alone for one day, one freaking day before she had started to show symptoms. Now she needed even more medicine and might need to be hospitalized. He was going to shove the food down her throat if he had to. He went through the kitchen. He made chicken noodle soup with an excessive amount of garlic. Whatever, it was good for her. He squeezed oranges to make fresh juice. He cut up apples, peaches, watermelon, strawberries, and banana. He made more tea with honey.

He took everything up to her and woke her up. She wouldn't keep her eyes open though, it took several shakes of her shoulder to get her awake enough to sit up and eat. He made her eat a bowl of the fruit salad and a bowl of soup. She hadn't wanted to but he started shoving it in her mouth, not giving her any choice. He waited until she finished a glass of orange juice before he gave her the new medicine. He made her drink a cup of tea and a glass of water before he let her go back to sleep. She hadn't said much. She fell asleep almost immediately.

He had six hours before he needed to give her any more medicine. He called the maids. They were always willing to drop everything and come to him. He paid them really well. All three of them were at the house within twenty minutes. He gave them instructions to keep an eye on her; someone had to be in the room at all times. He told them to make her drink a glass of water or orange juice if she woke up and not to give her any more medicine. If anything changed in her condition they were to call him. With that he left, saying he didn't really care if they cleaned or not. They were all very concerned. This was a very different situation then what they had ever been in before. They took turns watching the girl sleep, cleaning the house and sterilizing everything when they weren't.

Judal drove the car to the biggest mall in the area. It took him almost an hour to get there. He couldn't stay in the house anymore and watch Aladdin sleep. Doing nothing was driving him crazy. He really needed to **do** something. So he was at the mall. He went from store to store. Size six shoes, boots, sandals, tennis shoes; long sleeve shirts, tee shirts, blouses, sweatpants, jeans, skirts, leggings, dresses, perfume, makeup, and purses. He went from store to store, every store he remembered her talking to him about, every brand he remembered her wearing he visited and purchased things from. He had to make several trips to the car to keep himself from being overloaded. He even went into three different lingerie stores to buy her bras of different styles; he had peaked at the bra she had been wearing the day they arrived and had since not been wearing because she was sick and it was uncomfortable. He really couldn't call her Chibi because of **that** , at least she was short so it still worked. He got several strange looks at each of those stores. On the way home he stopped by a Target and grabbed the last few things she would need, hair brush, socks, toothbrush, and toothpaste. She had been borrowing his stuff the whole time and he knew it was bugging her. She didn't mind sharing but some things you just needed for yourself. He ran through the grocery store grabbing everything he thought she might want to eat.

He made it home shortly before he needed to give Aladdin her medicine again. He gave the clothes to one of the maids and told her to take care of them. He was impressed with their work yet again, the house practically sparkled, it freaking smelled clean. He brought the food in and put it away with the help of another maid. He left halfway through and relieved the third maid. He watched Aladdin's chest rise and fall again and again. He walked over to the bed and pushed the hair out of her face; it was slick with sweat. The medicine wasn't working as well as it had before, he needed to switch cold medicines again. This one was starting to lose its effects. Her breath caught and he froze, hand inching towards his phone, ready to call 911. Luckily her breathing resumed a second later accompanied by a coughing fit. He relaxed slightly.

He leaned in, taking in her sleeping state. She was so pale, so different from the lively girl he had spent time with a week before. This was bad. He admitted it. He had fallen hard for the girl in front of him, and it worried him more than he could say that she was this uncomfortable.

He stopped when their noses were almost touching. "You better not leave me Chibi. You wriggled your way into my heart so you have a responsibility to stay. Do you understand? I love you, Aladdin." He kissed her on the forehead and walked away. His cheeks were burning.

* * *

Hello!

So I wrote this chapter in a crazy hurry but I wanted to get it out as soon as possible. I'm taking advantage of the limited amount of free time I have right now (it's Friday night 10:45 PM) to get some writing done. We shall see how far I get. I'm about to fall asleep though, I've been awake since 5AM running around and doing stuff. Oh boy. This is killing me. But I'm having fun.

Sooooooooooooooooooooooo big things have happened. What do you think? Please review and let me know. Also feel free to request any kind of interaction or coupling that you would like to see. A chapter with Hakuryuu, Morgiana, Kougyoku, and Alibaba will be coming up very soon so get ready for that.

Review review review please! I really like to know what you like/dislike about the story. Anyway, I have to edit stuff and reply to some of you now so I will talk to you later.

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	25. All of Me

Aladdin woke up a few minutes before Judal came in. She wanted to go back asleep but she couldn't. Someone was in the room with her but it wasn't Judal. She kept her eyes closed and pretended to sleep. She didn't really want to deal with anyone right now.

She heard the door open, heard whoever was in the room leave and be replaced by the familiar presence of Judal. He watched her for what felt like an eternity. She couldn't sleep with his eyes focused on her like that. It was killing her. She felt a little better now than she had before. She figured it was because of the food and drink that Judal had made her have earlier. She kept her eyes closed. She wanted to just go back to sleep and if he knew she was awake he would make her eat more. Her throat caught on something and she couldn't breathe for a second, but it was fine after she swallowed and coughed a bit. She heard his footsteps as he came up to the bed. She felt his breath on her face, sensed his nose less than an inch from hers.

"You better not leave me Chibi. You wriggled your way into my heart so you have a responsibility to stay. Do you understand? I love you, Aladdin."

What he said next made her blush horribly, and she thanked everyone she could think of that she had a fever-flushed face. She touched the spot where he had kissed her then opened her eyes and watched his figure retreating. He was almost to the door. 'Should I talk to him or not? Oh, what the hell.'

"Judal?"

He turned around so fast! "Chibi? I thought you were asleep."

"No, I've been awake for a little while."

His cheeks got a nice hint of pink. She found it adorable. "Exactly how long were you listening?"

"The entire time."

He was red now. Haha, she wasn't the only one who looked like a tomato sometimes. "Chi-"

"I love you too! I'm not going anywhere, I'll stay by your side for however long you will have me."

He was about to say something to negate his earlier declaration when she started coughing horribly. He ran to get her water and after that just told her to go back to sleep. He gave her the medicine almost as an afterthought. He walked around the house for a while, pacing the halls and thinking about what he was going to do. He could play it off as a fever dream, but did he really want to do that? He ended up falling asleep in the corner of Aladdin's room. Well, technically his room but whatever.

He woke up a few hours later to an obnoxious ringing sound. Her phone was ringing. He ran and answered it without checking to see who it was.

"Hello?"

"You aren't Aladdin."

"And your point is?"

"Who are you?"

"Who are **you**?"

"I asked first."

"I can hang up because I don't care about you. And I don't give a shit if you asked first. You want something, you tell me who you are."

"Alibaba."

"Oh it's the idiot I met the other day. What do you want?"

"The other day? Wait, you're the guy with the long black hair right? Judar?"

"It's Judal you idiot. What do you want. Do you know what time it is?"

"It's just past eleven. I always call Aladdin at this time on Friday nights. Why did you pick up the phone."

"Because Chibi is sleeping and I didn't want her cell phone ringing to wake her up. She is sick and I don't need her getting worse because some idiot called late at night."

"Aladdin's sick? How could you let that happen? You took her to some place with just the two of you and you let her get sick!"

"First of all, I didn't let her get sick, she did that all by herself. Secondly, it's none of your damn business. Thirdly, the only person I'll take crap from about this is her father so don't you start with the ass-chewing I can sense you want to give me because I will hand up and turn off the phone indefinitely. I'm not in the mood."

"Is she okay?"

"She is fine. She is taking antibiotic and cold medicine. She will be fine. I'm taking care of her."

"She's that sick? Shouldn't you take her to the hospital?"

"Look you nincompoop, I just told you that I'm taking care of her. I paid a fortune to have a doctor come to the stupid house and check up on her so she didn't have to get out of bed. She is taking medicine, drinking fluids, eating, and getting plenty of rest. I am capable of taking care of a sick sixteen-year-old girl. Trust me, unlike you I'm not an idiot. So don't worry about her and get to the point of what you wanted or hang up. I want to go back to sleep."

"I wanted to tell her about what has been happening on our end since she left, she asked about it a few days ago and I haven't had the chance to catch up with her. And my name is Alibaba!"

"Oh, I'm sorry Flabbybaba, I must have misheard you the first time. Your name and idiot sound so similar it was difficult for me to tell what you were saying."

"You're an ass. Whatever. Just listen to me because I'm only going to say this once. Just because I'm not a celebrity doesn't mean I can't look out for Aladdin and make your life a living hell on-"

"Again, what's your point?"

"Stop cutting me off you jerk. I will make this as clear as I possibly can. If you hurt Aladdin, we will have serious problems. If Aladdin ever comes to me crying over you there will be hell to pay. You **have** to take care of her. She has plenty of people who will back me up in your ruin if you are just toying with her. She is to kind for that."

"Don't assume things about me. You don't know anything about me besides that my hair is black, apparently."

"It doesn't matter. Just take good care of my little Aladdin." He hung up. Judal seemed like a possessive person to Alibaba so he threw in the little comment to rub him the wrong way. He wasn't an idiot. And he was definitely going to have fun with Aladdin's first boyfriend. Oh, the things he could do. He just needed to spend some time with Aladdin when Judal was around. That would be fun.

'The nerve of that little punk. Aladdin isn't going to be talking to that idiot late at night anymore. It was unacceptable.'

* * *

Hello!

So yeah, I finished another chapter. Thank you for all the reviews. And also for the understanding.

I really want to take a nap but I have to do summer homework and write some more stuff. Off I go...

Please review and request!

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	26. Double Date

Hakuryuu and Morgiana had a standing date every Saturday. This week they were going to a small park that was hidden away in the city. It was filled with flowers and there were almost never people there.

Alibaba and finally asked Kougyoku out on an actual date earlier in the week. It had gone well, really well. So, Saturday Alibaba was taking her to a beautiful little hideaway he and Aladdin had found a few years before. He picked her up early in the morning. They got donuts together and made their way to the little park filled with flowers. It was beautiful. The morning was cold but the sun was out. They sat down on a blanket in the middle of one of the flower fields. Alibaba picked up several flowers and wove them together into a flower crown, which he placed on Kougyoku's head. She giggled. They ate donuts and talked about their weeks, teasing each other and joking back and forth.

Hakuryuu and Morgiana jogged from Morgiana's apartment to the little park. When they got there they were out of breath and panting. Hakuryuu sat down on the grass and patted the ground beside him for Morgiana to join him. She sat down at first but quickly changed to a position of lying down and gazing at the clouds. Slowly their breathing evened out and they began their usual routine. Rather then go out to dinner or to see a movie they had chosen an early morning workout to do together today. Not a very traditional kind of date, but both of them were very active and committed to their sports. Morgiana and Hakuryuu both practiced martial arts so practicing together was fun.

Kougyoku wanted to move towards the music side of the industry. She told Alibaba about her current difficulty writing the music to the song she wanted to sing and he offered to help her with it later. Her face brightened when she smiled. No one she had talked to or asked had been willing to help her. She turned when she saw a familiar red head.

"Is that Morgiana?"

"Morgiana? I don't think so. Where?"

"Over by the two big trees over there. Can you see them? Yeah, I'm almost positive that is Morgiana…and Hakuryuu?"

"You're right it is them. Are they working out? It looks like they are practicing. Should we go say hi?"

"I don't know. I don't think we should interrupt them but it would be rude not to greet them."

They didn't have to think about it. "Alibaba! Kougyoku! What are you doing here?"

"Hey Morgiana. We were just hanging out. What about you?"

"Hakuryuu and I were practicing. What are you doing here Alibaba?"

"Kougyoku I thought you were going to work on the song you wrote today, what happened?"

"Alibaba is going to help me! We were just hanging out before we do any work. I didn't really feel like working on the song when I woke up this morning so we came out here instead."

"Oh okay. Well, Morgiana and I were going to head out and go downtown. Do you two want to come?"

"Umm, Alibaba and I were going to go to the Saturday Market. What do you think Alibaba?"

"I'm okay with whatever. You decide."

"I guess we will come then."

They went together. Alibaba still wasn't sure how to handle Morgiana and Hakuryuu together as a couple. He tried to act normal but he had the feeling he was being a little strange. The two of them seemed perfectly fine though, like nothing had changed at all. The only difference was the occasional handholding. It wasn't like them being together bothered Alibaba, he just wasn't sure what was appropriate.

Kougyoku stuck close to Alibaba, her shoulder touching his the entire time. She wanted to hold his hand but she was to nervous to do it so she just waited, hoping he would make the first move. They all walked towards the market. There weren't many people out because of the cold. It wasn't raining today but the clouds had moved to cover the sun. It took almost half an hour to get to the site.

Kougyoku was happy. She never got to go to the Saturday market because her brothers didn't think it was appropriate for her to go alone, they wouldn't go with her, and she didn't have many other friends. Kouha had offered to go with her once but then the Al Thamen had insisted the whole family go to that stupid movie shoot. The thought of that movie was horribly aggravating.

She was looking at one of the stands when she felt something warm wrap around her hand. She looked down and then up to see that the hand holding hers was attached to a slightly blushing Alibaba. She grinned then looked around. She pulled him towards a stand that caught her eye. It was full of jewelry. Alibaba watched her eyes sparkle when she looked at a particular necklace. He pointed at the necklace and paid for it while Kougyoku talked to Morgiana about the earrings she was looking at. He pulled his hand away from hers and put the necklace on her. She looked down in surprise then looked at him. She blushed then kissed him on the cheek before taking his hand in hers again and pulling him towards the next stand.

Morgiana and Hakuryuu followed along with Kougyoku and Alibaba. Morgiana and Kougyoku talked about the different trinkets at the stands. Hakuryuu went off and bought everyone drinks. By the end of the day Kougyoku was grinning ear to ear and Morgiana had a rather large smile herself. Alibaba and Hakuryuu were shooting each other knowing looks. It had been a successful double date even if that hadn't been their original intention.

* * *

Hello Hello Hello!

I'm not sure whether I did okay with this chapter or not. I had to do some research about Portland to come up with something. I thought the Saturday Market might be a weird yet fun place to go on a kind-of date. I don't know…How do you feel about this?

Anyway yeah. I'm feeling a bit less tired now, which is awesome. I had a really good day today and so I worked really hard to get another chapter written.

So I'm coming to a point in the story where I'm not sure if I should end it after Aladdin and Judal go back to Portland or if I should keep it going for a while after. What do you guys think?

Please review and request!

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	27. Girl Stuff

Aladdin felt better. It had been three days since she and Judal had admitted their feelings. She had taken a ton of medicine in the last few days but now she was out of bed. She made a speedy recovery with the help of the antibiotics she was prescribed. She still had to take them for a few more days but she felt much better.

She sat in the music room, fingering the keys of the piano. Judal came in and moved his hands over hers; repositioning them and playing a soft melody she had heard him play once before.

"I need to call my parents. I haven't talked to them in a while."

"You can use my laptop to video call them if you want. Your phone is dead and I don't have a charger for it yet. We can buy one later."

"Okay! Where is your computer?"

"It's on the kitchen table. It doesn't have a password on it."

"Thanks!" She ran to the kitchen and opened the computer. She had to download the Skype application and log in before she could call. Her father always had the application open so she didn't have to worry about him not being online.

She called him. It took a while before he answered.

"Aladdin?"

"Hi! Are you at work?"

"No, I just got home. I'm in the office. What are you up to?"

"Judal and I were just playing music. I thought it would be a good time to call you. We haven't talked since the day I arrived here so I thought I should check up. Is mom asleep?"

"No, she was just getting some tea. Do you need to talk to her?"

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to her about….girl stuff."

"Girl stuff?"

"Yeah, girl stuff."

"Does girl stuff include Judal by any chance?"

"Daaaaddd!"

"Okay, okay. SHEBA! ALADDIN IS ASKING FOR YOU."

"Did you really need to yell for her? I could have just waited. She doesn't like the yelling."

"Solomon! I told you not to yell through the house like that. It is unnecessary."

"I feel like there is an echo here."

"Mom! How are you feeling?"

"Aladdin? It's so good to hear from you! I feel much better! I'm a little tired. Paimon and I went out to lunch earlier and caught up. It was great. How are you feeling baby?"

"I'm fine. I feel a little tired. I got sick the first day here but I feel much better now. Judal bought me a bunch of stuff while I was sleeping one day. It's weird because he got stuff exactly like what I would buy."

"That's very thoughtful, he must have been paying close attention to what you like. Is Judal that boy Solomon had been telling me about?"

"I'll just leave you two to your girl talk. If you need me just shout out the door."

"I'm not going to-you know what, never mind. It isn't important. So tell me about the boy."

"He is really nice! He has this really nice long black hair and a really amazing voice. He can play a bunch of instruments too. And when he speaks French…"

"So he is multi-talented. That's good. Solomon said he is sharp-tongued. Are you sure he is being nice to you?"

"Yes I'm sure. He is a very kind and caring person he just doesn't like to show it."

"If you think so then it must be true. You are an even better judge of character then Solomon is."

"Soooo there was something I wanted to talk to you about… and ask you about."

"What is it honey?"

"I uhm I-I kissed Judal. And he said he loved me. And I said it back."

"Aladdin! This is very serious stuff. Why didn't you say that earlier! So you are officially dating now?"

"I couldn't say anything while dad was here and you kept asking me questions! I guess we are dating, I hadn't really thought about it. I-I-I wanted t-to ask you about kissing."

"Kissing?"

"Yes. How do I get better at it?"

"Aladdin!"

"Well, I would ask Kouha but he is a boy and I think I need to get advice from a girl for once! I want to know what I am supposed to do on dates with him! I've never done this before."

"Well, is he a person who likes words or a person who likes physical contact?"

"Physical contact." The answer came immediately from her mouth without her even realizing or thinking about it.

"Then it would be good to keep touching him. I know that sounds a little weird but if physical contact is important to him then holding his hand or hugging him would be a good idea. Sometimes less is more."

The conversation continued. After Aladdin's continued probing Sheba gave her a few kissing tips and flirting techniques. They stayed talking for almost three hours. When Aladdin finally hung up she was almost giddy with happiness. She hadn't really had a **real** conversation with her mom for over a year. It had been to hard with her mom being sick and her being constantly working. It had only been small greetings for so long. This had felt really nice. She had really missed talking to her mom and telling her everything. Morgiana was a good friend but talking to her about girl stuff wouldn't really be that helpful and Kouha wasn't a girl so it wasn't really the same. She ran back to the music room and started singing as soon as she recognized the song Judal was playing, moving to sit next to him and hold his hand.

~~~With Sheba and Solomon~~~

"SOLOMON GET IN HERE!"

"I thought you said no yelling in the house." He laughed as he came in to the office. "What did you two talk about for so long?"

"Tell me more about what that purple haired freak did to my baby and how we are making him pay."

"Where did I leave off?"

"He punched the boy we like."

He explained the rest of the story and his plans. "Sheba, what is with that face?"

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"You are definitely thinking about something. The last time you had that look on your face you were helping Paimon try to flirt with Ugo…Oh no. You are not thinking what I think you are thinking."

"I still don't know what you are talking about."

"You gave Aladdin advice on how to seduce Judal didn't you."

"I wouldn't say that… I wouldn't call it seduction so much as…you know what Solomon, she is my daughter and I can give her subtly aggressive flirting advice if I want to. I have barely talked to her in a year."

"Subtly aggressive flirting? Really?"

"Yes. Now stop. She is a young woman and she needs to know things. Now back to the sabotage. We really need to be more devious with this. We can't just bring down his company. We need to make people forget it ever existed. I hate him."

"I think I liked it better when you were thinking about girl stuff." She sat on his lap.

"Solomon, let's be a family again. I don't want to stay so distant anymore."

He kissed her cheek. "Anything for you."

* * *

Hello!

How's it going?

I added a little SolomonXSheba for ya there. okay it wasn't really that much but I felt bad for never having anything with them together.

SOOOOOOO I don't really know what I'm doing next with this story. I need to plan out some more stuff...Any requests? Now is your chance. I literally have nothing planned (except that eventually Aladdin and Judal go back to Portland and Solomon does his thing with Alma Torran.) SO if you want to see something happen now is the time to ask. I'm going to do some outlining and stuff this afternoon so send in any requests you have please!

Don't forget to review.

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	28. Sabotage Part I

Aladdin woke up on the floor next to Judal. He was playing with her hair adding in little braids.

"Good morning Juju."

"The name's Judal, Chibi."

"You gave me a nickname, so you get one from me too."

He rolled his eyes and returned his focus to her hair. He made her sit up so he could get a better position and began to section her hair to be like his signature braid. She sat still, enjoying the little shivers of pleasure that ran up her spine. She started humming a combination of her favorite song of Judal's and her favorite song of her own.

"Jugemu?"

"What Chibi?"

"We should write a song together!"

"Why?"

"Because it would be really fun! And we have been practicing a lot these past few days so I think it would be a good idea."

"What if I don't want to sing with you?"

"If that were true then you wouldn't have been practicing with me the past few days. Or those times at my house."

"So annoying sometimes Chibi. Fine, but I'm going to make you actually do some of the work."

"What do you mean? I write all of my songs!"

"Yes but I'm not going to contribute to the lyrics and do all the music on my own. If I wanted to do that I would just write a song for myself. In which case I would go back to the idiots at Al Thamen."

"It's only fun if we do it together! If one of us does all the work alone we might as well sing songs we already wrote."

"Whatever you say Chibi."

~~~Kouha~~~

Before he had become popular as an actor and later as a singer, Kouha had been a whiz with computers. He spent most of his time perfecting his hacking skills. It didn't take long for him to slip into the Sindria network and access Sinbad's calendar. He started with the upcoming week, changing the times of some meetings and the locations of others. It was minor, but some of the bigger name producers Sinbad was meeting with were really particular and would be offended if he didn't show up on time.

He moved on to send a rather annoying virus to that stupid manager of his, Jafar, and several other workers. Hopefully that would distract the pesky manager and keep him from noticing. Kouha wasn't foolish enough to think Sinbad wouldn't catch on, he just hoped it would take him some time to do so. He couldn't do anything with Sinbad's bank accounts unfortunately because he had to many good lawyers.

He called the owner of a restaurant Sinbad went to frequently and bribed the manager so that he "lost" Sinbad's reservation for dinner tonight. It cost him, but it was for Aladdin. She was worth it.

~~~Sinbad~~~

"It was so nice of you to help me out back there. That man wouldn't stop making vulgar comments."

"Well, I couldn't just leave you alone to fend for yourself. He was a creep. I'm Sinbad, by the way."

"Hakuei, pleasure to meet you. I have to thank you again. He was making me very nervous."

"Of course, of course. It was no problem at all." He flashed her a winning smile. She was **hot**.

"Please, let me thank you in some way. How about I buy you a drink?"

"That sounds wonderful. I know a place downtown that is pretty popular." He wasn't going to let some failed dinner reservations at his favorite restaurant with one of his biggest investors ruin his night. He had known that there would be repercussion from Solomon, he just hadn't expected it to be on such a small scale. Well, if this was all he was going to do then Sinbad wasn't going to complain.

"Let's go." She brought on her A-game. She had him hooked and she knew it. She flirted to her best ability all night. She let him drive her to her fake address. He didn't need to know that she was related to the Rens. If he knew, he would be suspicious given how close Hakuryuu, Kougyoku, Kouha, and Aladdin were. She wondered what had sparked Sinbad's interest in Aladdin. She was talented enough, but Hakuei didn't picture Sinbad as one to go for Aladdin's type. Oh, well, maybe he just wasn't picky. So long as things continued this way and he was still pursuing her she didn't really care.

* * *

Hello!

So Aladdin and Judal are writing a song together. What kind of song do you guys want it to be? Are there any ideas for lyrics you guys have? Or song title. Or song topic? It isn't that big of a deal but the more info you guys give me the more information I can put into the story (coming up with this kind of stuff is not my forte.)

Anyway, I'm thinking of writing a side story about the movie the Kou family had to film. I was thinking about it for a while but I wasn't sure if anyone was interested or if I wanted to do it as a side story or part of this one. My questions were answered because someone requested it to be written, so I will start working on that right now although I don't know how soon I will get things out (I have to think of a plot for the movie :P)

I rushed writing this chapter because I really wanted to get another chapter out. I am still outlining the next few chapters, so if there are any scenes you want to see or anything of the sort, send in a request and I will do my best to incorporate it into the story!

Don't forget to review!

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	29. Say Something

It was snowing. Judal and Aladdin had spent the morning watching movies. Three comedies and one adventure flick later, they were looking out the window as the snow. It was beautiful. Aladdin liked the way it looked when it fell on the lake. She sat on the leather couch curled up against Judal and watched the snowfall. After about an hour of light snowfall it really picked up. There was so much snow Aladdin could barely see the trees a few feet from the window. After several moments of staring at nothing but white Aladdin got scared. She felt trapped, like she was in a cage. It reminded her of the hole in her chest that Judal had chased away.

"What do you want to do Chibi? We can't go out like we were planning and I'm not really in the mood for any more movies."

"We could work on the song again."

"Do you want to strain your voice? Because that's what will happen if you sing all day yesterday and all day today."

"Fine, then I want you to tell me a story."

"What kind of story?"

"You knew Sinbad that day when he saw us together. How did you two meet?"

"You really want to talk about that bastard?"

"Well, at least it's interesting."

"I don't want to talk about it Chibi. It isn't a happy story."

"Well, you know unhappy stuff about me. It isn't fair that you won't tell me anything about yourself. I want to know more about you. You never tell me anything about yourself."

"I said I don't want to talk about it. Choose something else."

"No! Tell me! You know that my mom has been really sick, that Sinbad sexually harassed and overworked me, how we met, and all sorts of other stuff. You have to tell me how you two knew each other. What was it like? I want to know how you two became so hateful of each other."

"No Chibi."

"TELL ME!"

"I said NO! Just pick something else. I don't want to talk about it."

"What is so bad? Why won't you tell me anything? This is ridiculous." She stormed out and ran up the stairs to the home gym. She yanked her shirt off and threw it in a corner. She threw her hair up in a bun and turned the treadmill on as high as it could go. She ran and ran, ignoring the pain in her side and the pain in her chest that felt like it was crushing her. He didn't trust her! He wouldn't tell her anything about himself. It was so annoying. She barely knew anything about him that other mega-fans wouldn't know. They were supposed to like each other, love each other, they were supposed to be dating. He wouldn't talk to her though, and it was so annoying. She kept running. She was gasping desperately for air. She had no idea how long she had been running. Her vision was blurring at the edges. She was in pain, from so many different things. Life sucked! Just when things were getting better this had to happen.

She kept running until she fell. The blood was pounding through her ears so loudly that she didn't hear Judal call her name. She didn't even register that she was falling until her head hit the side of the machine. She was dizzy. Judal's face was in front of her eyes but she couldn't hear him. It took several minutes before her breathing evened out and she was able to focus on what he was saying.

"Are you an idiot? You were running at full speed for over an hour."

"Yeah, I do that when I get upset. Now you know another thing about me. Yay for you. Would you just leave me alone for a while please. I don't really want to be around anyone."

"Too bad. I'm staying here. What normal teenage boy wouldn't want to be around his girlfriend when she is wearing short-shorts and a sports bra?"

"You are being an ass."

"Oh, you are upset."

"Really? I hadn't noticed. I'm really not in the mood."

"That's unfortunate for you because I'm in the mood to tell you my life story now." He picked her up and carried her to the library. He sat down on the large leather sofa cross-legged and kept her in his lap, resting his cheek on her head. He didn't want to look her in the eyes while he talked about this, it was hard enough to admit to himself let alone anyone else. He kept her close to him, completely pressed against his body.

"We met in Switzerland at a hotel one night. I was locked out of my room and it was freezing outside. Sinbad was on this major sleeping-around streak. And he found me across the hall from his room whole I was waiting for my manager to bring me my hotel key. We, uh, well we went into his hotel room and…"

"you were together, weren't you?"

"Yeah. I completely fell for him. He was so perfect. And I was so tired of all the shit from my uncle and Al Thamen and he kept making these promises. I believed every word he said, but none of it was true. He betrayed me after I gave him everything he asked for. It sucked. It really sucked." He explained everything in detail. He told her things he had never even admitted to himself. When he came across a part that he couldn't say out loud, she was able to figure it out. She filled in and figured out everything he couldn't say, and it felt good to finally say those things to someone. When he finished his story Aladdin was silent for a long time. She waited for him to day something and he waited for her.

"Say something Chibi. I can't stand this silence. Do you have a problem with me having been with a man before?"

"No, that doesn't bother me. I just don't know what to say to that. How old were you?"

"Younger than you. It was a while ago. Really fucked up my life. I only got my shit back together recently."

She turned and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I'm sorry." She mumbled into his shoulder. She couldn't think of anything to say. She didn't like Sinbad at all. In fact, she hated him. He was everything that Judal had ever said he was, every bad name he had ever called. She had always thought there was just some celebrity dispute from before she had entered the business. She didn't even realize she was crying until Judal complained about her getting his shirt wet.

~~~Kouha and Alibaba~~~

"I can't believe nothing I've done has worked! What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

"What are you talking about Kouha? You aren't making any sense."

"Alibaba you were supposed to be paying attention! Sinbad hasn't been affected by most of my plans to sabotage him! Like, only two worked, and I've put into place almost thirty different methods of ruin and destruction. And it isn't like I'm an amateur at this."

"Well then you are just going to have to step up your game. This isn't working."

"No shit Sherlock. That's why I'm here. I need to take a step back and calculate my next move. This has been a disaster. At least he still thinks all of the stuff I have done is Solomon's doing. I'm going to have to try a different method though, he isn't falling for any of the traditional schemes."

"He and Kouen hate each other right? Or more like he hates Kouen and Kouen likes to make him pissed, right?"

"Yeah, what's your point?"

"Have them meet at some shoot or something. Sinbad is probably still upset that Kouen was more popular as a model this year than he was."

"Oh, that's a good idea. I approve. Just do me another favor and keep Kougyoku off my back. I don't really care if you two are dating; just keep her occupied so I don't have to hear her talk about you all the freaking time. It's getting old."

"I'll see what I can do. See you later Kouha, your sister is waiting for me."

"You lovebirds have fun. I have planning to do."

* * *

I just finished writing a few chapters. None of them are edited but at least I have some stuff done now. I spent most of the afternoon working on this story and thinking about the side story about the Ren family movie. Still not sure what I am going to do about that.

I have several ideas for things coming up but if you want to see anything specific now would be a really good time to request stuff because I haven't really finished my outlining...it's still pretty flexible. Let me know

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	30. Anthem of the Lonely

Judal and Aladdin sat together on the couch for a long time. They were silent. Aladdin took Judal's hair out of its braid and ran her hands through its silky length. His hair was so nice.

"Ready to hear the rest of the story?"

"There's more?"

"Yeah. You started this so now you have to end this."

"I'm not going anywhere. Tell me."

"Well, that first day after Sinbad left I was a total wreck. I drank all the alcohol in the hotel room, then I paid someone to go get me more. And every day I drank more. And I kept doing it, I kept drinking to dull the pain, but after a while that wasn't enough anymore. I slept around with a lot of people. I dated everyone and anyone who would look good for the cameras and improve my image. I kept drinking. And eventually I started taking drugs. My manager got me started on them. And once I started I couldn't stop."

"What were you on?"

"Oxycodone. It's a downer. It creates a state of euphoria. It seemed to make everything better."

"But it didn't, it just masked the pain, right?"

"Yeah. I actually took off from Al Thamen for a lot of reasons, mainly to get off the drugs and stop the alcohol. It really sucked the first week. I stopped everything all at once. The first week is called a crash week. It's the hardest week because all of the withdrawal symptoms are the worst. I kept getting panic attacks and muscle pain. My muscles were super weak too, I couldn't sleep, I had a fever off and on. Every week after the first week got a little bit better, every day got better ever so slightly. Exercise helped too, but it was excruciatingly hard because the drug caused muscle weakness. Took a shit-ton of work to build that strength back up."

"I bet. What made you want to get clean?"

"I was inspired by an artist who was getting a little to close to my popularity level for comfort."

"Who?"

"You should figure that out yourself."

"I got really self conscious after some of the producers and even Sinbad started commenting about my weight. I spent more time working and listening to those things and less time around my family and friends. I got really lonely. There was this pain in my chest, it was cold and it felt like a gaping hole. I felt like I was completely separated from everyone else. It was terrifying. I started working out a ton and eating way less to try to loose the weight that everyone was saying I needed to loose. They kept saying that I wasn't skinny enough for a celebrity. It worked, I lost a lot of weight really fast, but it didn't seem to alleviate any of the pain. Spending more time with my friends and my dad helped a little, but it was barely noticeable. Then I met you that day in the music store and we spent the day together and I felt so much better. The pain lessened the more time I spent with you. Now it's barely there at all. It started hurting again earlier and so I went back to old habits and I ran."

"That wasn't a healthy kind of running Aladdin. You need to stop that."

"I've been better for the last few weeks, but it got really bad when Sinbad kissed me. It's been better ever since but when you shut me out it got bad again."

"Sounds like we both have some pretty dark pasts. We seem to compliment each other."

"I guess so. It's nice that way."

"Finding comfort in each other's loneliness and isolation. Yeah, really nice. Why are you such an optimist?"

She stuck her tongue out at him and nuzzled against his neck. She spent time just breathing, relaxing against him, relishing the fact that he wasn't upset about being her comfort. She had been worried about that. Things were good, even if they both had lots of pain, they could comfort each other.

* * *

Hello there.

What's up? Aladdin and Judal having bonding moment. I spent forever when I first started this story doing research and trying to figure out what drug I wanted Judal to be addicted to. I don't really know why it took me so long to decide in retrospect.

Kouha and Leraje coming up soon.

Request and review.

Until Next Time!  
-Kizuna


	31. All to Myself

Kouha is pissed that Sinbad hasn't fallen for any of his sabotage. Starts posting on social media.

Spends time with Leraje

He was pissed. The asshole had only fallen for one of his new plans. It wasn't working! And he was **good** at this. Normally. No, he was definitely good at this, Sinbad was just more experienced in avoiding sabotage. It still pissed him off. Solomon had met him at some no-name restaurant the other day. Things seemed to be going well on his end so far, but it wasn't like Solomon had really done anything public yet, so Sinbad wasn't able to react to Solomon's plans. Kouha had warned him about that. He doubted that even Solomon would be able to overpower Sinbad without a hitch, especially since most of Solomon's power was overseas.

Kouha's actual plans to directly sabotage Sinbad wasn't working, but he had other methods. He was starting with the social media method. His following wasn't as large as Sinbad's, but it was big enough. And he could probably convince his brothers to follow him on the social media attack. Kouen's following alone was definitely comparable to Sinbad's. The whole Ren family together would definitely cause some problems for that annoyance. Maybe then Sinbad would at least be annoyed. So far he had seemed amused at all of Kouha's antics, especially when they worked. It was infuriating.

"Kouha, don't you have to go meet up with that girl soon?"

"Meimei I'm so mad!"

"At the girl?"

"No! At that stupid Sinbad. None of my plans have worked!"

"You already planned to have him meet Kouen right? You set it up with Kouen earlier today."

"Yeah but other things aren't working and it's pissing me off."

"If you try a social me-"

"I already started. That's what I've been doing. But he has way more power in this business then I do at this point. He reaches way more age groups and he knows more people still."

"I'll join your little plan if it will help, but I'm not that popular anymore."

"Yes you are! And you could be even more popular if you weren't so lazy all the time. And camera shy."

"I don't like my freckles."

"Meimei your freckles are adorable. You are just making up excuses."

"Go meet the girl Kouha. I'm not in the mood for flattery right now. En has a ton of things I need to organize for him."

"Have fun Meimei!"

Kouha met Leraje at the movie theater. They sat through two hours of a painfully horrible romance movie. It had sounded good in the summary and looked good in the previews but both of them regretted watching it. It was really bad.

"Well that sucked royally. Leraje what do you want to do now." She seemed down, not her usual chipper self.

"I just want to go home."

"What's wrong Lera?"

"Nothing Kouha. Don't worry about it."

It was still light outside. "Let's go on that hiking trail we were talking about!"

"I don't have shoes for that kind of thing on right now."

"I have a pair of Kougyoku's in the trunk, you can use those. It isn't a long trail, so you shouldn't need hiking clothes. Let's just go. I don't want to go home yet."

"Yeah, sure just not too long okay? It has been a long week."

"Of course!" Twenty minutes later Kouha pulled off the side of the road and parked at the entrance to the trail. He gave Leraje the shoes and changed his own. He led her to the end of the trail. It took about forty minutes to walk the three-mile trail to the place where it ended in a small waterfall and creek. He sat down in a sunny patch and waited for her to join him. It took her a minute before she joined him. Her eyes looked lost.

He turned her face towards his. "What's bugging you? You aren't acting normal."

"It's nothing Kouha. Don't worry about it. Let's just enjoy the outside for a few more minutes them go home. It's cold." He pulled off his jacket and laid it on her shoulders.

"You can't hide from me Lera, I know you too well at this point. Tell me what is wrong."

"I-I…Focalor and I broke up. He was cheating on me. Not just all flirtatious with other girls, but actually cheating on me." Her eyes were glassy, holding back tears she didn't want to let fall.

"How horrible! He is such an asshole. How could he do that to you?" That prick was going to pay. Kouha needed to vent some frustrations anyway.

"I guess I just wasn't interesting enough for him." Her cheeks were covered with tears at this point. She wasn't able to fight them off. Her chest hurt.

"Lera you are amazing. He is the one that isn't interesting. If he doesn't want to be with you then he obviously wasn't mature enough to appreciate your company."

She didn't look any better with his words though, which was weird because normally a few nice words from him would make girls fall head over heels for him or dry up their tears. Not this time though.

"Lera come here." He opened his arms and for once she didn't shy away from his openness. She just leaned herself against his chest and let him hold her. She was so tired of the uncertainty she had felt with Focalor and Kouha was here for her, had been here for her ever since they had met. She cried into his shoulder for a long time. He whispered sweet and comforting words into her ear, played with her hair, rubbed circles into her shoulders. "It's going to be okay. I'll be here for you. Don't worry. You can have me all to yourself." 'All to myself? What is he talking about?' They stayed like that for almost two hours. Kouha's shirt, his extremely expensive silk shirt, was stained with tears and makeup. He just held her hand as they walked back to the car, squeezing it before he walked around and got in on his side. He dropped her off at home just before sunset.

He drove around for a long time. Today had been a horrible day. But there was hope. Leraje was now single. He would eventually be able to start dating her. He had been ridiculously disappointed when he had found out that she was in a relationship. At least something had gone in his direction. Vaguely anyway.

* * *

Hello!

So, there is some more Kouha and Leraje. I really like writing Kouha. He is one of my favorite characters. :D :D :D

Anyway, I am still playing around with the order of events to come so please feel free to request anything you want to see and if I can include it I will. I'm hoping to start picking up the plot again soon, I feel that it has been a bit slow the past few chapters so I'm sorry about that.

Please Review! Also! 40,000 words! I originally only planned for the story to be about 30,000 words. I was going to have Sinabd's betrayal be a bit different and Solomon's reaction different, as well as Judal and Aladdin's relationship afterwards. Oh well, I like it this way a lot.

I've been thinking about the Ren family movie story and if any of you have requests or ideas for it let me know, it will help me in the planning of the story. It is taking me longer then I would like to be able to plan out the story.

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	32. Between the Raindrops

The snow was beautiful. The rays of sun that broke through patches of cloud made the winter wonderland sparkle. The beauty of the place took Aladdin's breath away.

She liked this. She could see her breath cloud up in front of her and knew she should go inside, but she wanted to relish the crisp air. It was so refreshing after being cooped up inside for so long. She grinned at nothing in particular and turned around at the sound of Judal's footsteps in the snow.

"Chibi, we should go inside. I don't want you to get sick again."

"Just a little bit longer, we were inside for so long!"

"Chibi, it was only two days. And you were the one who didn't want to go outside, remember?"

"Jugemu! Let's just stay out a few more minutes. I want to play in the snow for a little while."

"Chibi, we already built two snowmen and made snow angels, what else do you want to do?"

She was crouching down seemingly ignoring him. "I want to have a battle!" She threw the snowball in her hands at his head. Luckily for him her aim wasn't great and it hit him in the shoulder. She grinned and started running.

"Chibi, I'm going to get you for that. Come back here!"

Judal ran after her, picking up snow and packing it into a ball as he chased after her. He threw his snowball, hitting her at the back of her neck. While she was trying to remove the snow and run he caught up to her. His arms wrapped around her waist and he pulled her to him. She fought against his hold and they ended up falling to the ground.

"Did you have to land directly on top of me?"

"You're the one who was pulling on me. It's your fault!"

"Whatever Chibi, I'm freezing. Let's go inside."

"But Juju!"

He rolled his eyes at the nickname. "I thought you wanted to finish the song. I told you I wasn't going to do all the work on my own."

"Can we finish it now? Let's go! We should have hot cocoa too."

"Fine. Let's just get out of the cold please."

"You do have manners!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You said please. Good job Ju! Now let's get inside. I'm cold."

"You are such a pain."

Aladdin ran into the house and started the hot cocoa making process. By the time Judal entered the kitchen she was done making the drinks. She handed him one of the mugs then grabbed his free hand and pulled him to the music room. She sat on the piano bench and moved over to give him room. He sat next to her and began running through warm-up exercises. He stopped after several minutes and changed to playing guitar. He started playing what they had so far. She started off the singing; he picked up where she left off. She started playing the piano when he reached the chorus. They sang that part together. There was only a little more to write. They sat in the room, changing positions throughout the morning and early after noon. After a few hours of arguing and agreeing over different pieces of music and lyrics, the song was finished.

"It's so good! Let's practice it a few times."

"Well aren't you just excited beyond reason? It's just a song Chibi. Calm down a little. There isn't anything different about this song then any other song you have ever written."

"Don't say that Judal! This one is very special. We wrote it together. Isn't that important to you? Wasn't this more fun then any of the other songs you have written? It was for me."

"Yeah, it wasn't to bad but- Chibi! Stop jumping around. You are going to knock something over. These instruments are very delicate be careful!"

"I'm not a little kid, geez."

"But you are acting like one."

"You just use that fake-cool too often. You should at least let your guard down around me."

"Chibi, why are we even talking about this? This is stupid. We might as well talk about rainbows and unicorns. I am who I am and it isn't going to change."

"Yeah but you should at least relax around me!"

"I don't' relax around anyone, Chibi. It comes as a side effect of previous life problems. Just get used to it."

"I'm going to make you act completely normal around me one of these days."

He believed her. She had a way of always getting him to react the way she wanted him to. It was slightly annoying. Well, maybe her doing that would be okay. If he could trust anyone, it was probably her. He would just see what was going to happen.

"Hey Judal?"

"What Chibi?"

"I think we should go back."

"Back. To Portland?"

"Yeah. I can't run away from this forever. I need to talk to Sinbad and then move on with my life. I can't just keep hiding from him forever."

"Are you sure? It'll be really uncomfortable for a while. That hole might get worse."

"I know, but I can't just stay here forever. I have to go back to my family and friends. I have to keep making music. I want to make music and movies and model with you. Don't you think that would be fun? I can't do any of that if I'm afraid of running into Sinbad at any of the events. It will happen one day, so I think I should do it on my own terms. I don't want to be caught off guard."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I want to go back. But we should definitely come here again. Many more times!"

"Then we should probably start getting ready to leave."

* * *

Hello!

Craziness is happening today but it's all good.

The Ren Family movie facfic is coming together, I'm working out a few more things with the plot and such but I'm almost done so get ready for that! It took me a really long time to be able to start working on it, I was having some serious writers block.

Shit is going down coming up really soon, so get ready for that. The story is going to pick up. I'm really tired. I'm going out to dinner and a movie later and I kinda have to get ready for that but I'm feeling super lazy right now and I should probably go finish doing my laundry but I don't want to move. And I want to get some more chapters done. I don't even know what I'm saying anymore.

Request and review! This is pretty much the last chance for now. BTW since i'm going to be really focusing on the plot from this point on, little asides with the side couples will be in another side story which I am working on slowly.

Review review review! I neeed the motivation right now.

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	33. Bonds

~~~Sinbad~~~

Sinbad had known something was going to happen. There was no way Solomon, leader of Alma Torran, was going to let what he did go easily. He wasn't surprised Solomon was taking action to work against him. He was surprised that Solomon was moving against him in such a-a public way. Expanding a company like Alma Torran into the entertainment industry could be a huge success or a huge failure. Even a man like Solomon might not be able to pull himself out of a failure that large.

In a sense, this was a good thing. In another sense, this was a very bad thing. If Solomon succeeded in this venture Sindria would be in trouble, but if he failed then Sindria would gain more. Sinbad was determined to make sure Sindria came out on top; he didn't spend so much time building up his company just to have it torn down by some newbie in the business. It was a good thing he had paid off someone to get the inside information. It had cost him a pretty penny but it was worth it if he could bring Sindria to a higher level.

Sinbad needed to make a few calls. He knew some of the most influential players in the industry; producers, directors, choreographers, musicians, big names of everyone and anyone needed to do something in the entertainment business. He reached out to a few explaining the situation, smoothing over a few of the events with vague words or untruths. Darius, Mira, and Amarkan immediately offered their support to Sindria. Solomon would have his work cut out for him. Sinbad wasn't going to just hand over everything he had.

~~~Solomon~~~

"What are you suggesting?"

"I want you to work for me."

"And why would I want to do that?"

"Because I will offer you more then your current label."

"I'm content where I am."

Solomon smirked. "Content, not happy. Content there, happy here. It's your choice."

"Kouha seemed rather happy with the arrangement, but I don't see why. You don't have anything especially exceptional to offer at the moment."

"Your brother may know a bit more of the situation then you do at the moment because he seems to have a closer role in the situation. I have two very high-level entertainers already guaranteed to be part of this new chapter, and your brother is also in the process of joining us. I want you here though."

"Why?"

"Because I think Aladdin needs to be surrounded by people who can challenge her but who are not directly competing against her. And if all of you are part of Alma Torran there won't be any problems with working between two labels. But more then that, I want to destroy Sinbad. He shouldn't get away with what he has done."

"I agree that Sinbad needs to be brought down, he is extremely irritating. My siblings come as well. I won't switch without a place for all of them. And we won't come until you have established the company as reliable. You may be surprised to find that becoming part of the entertainment industry isn't as easy as simply opening a new section of your company. This business is all about connections."

"I understand that. That is part of why I want you and your siblings to come here. Connections include artists. My partner is working to get the other connections set up and secured. I am wondering why it is that you came to me? I know I didn't have a meeting scheduled with you."

"I came to make you an offer. I've never really been a fan of Sinbad's."

~~~Judal/Aladdin~~~

She was done packing. The only things that weren't packed were the things she would need to use before they left. She had filled the car with gas and bought food for the trip. Judal had been taking care of things for the house while she was getting ready for the car ride. There were so many things that had to be taken care of.

She was ready to go back though. She was determined to face her fears and move forward. She wasn't going to hide anymore.

Judal was concerned, but he didn't think her incapable of doing what she had declared she would. He was going to look out for her until the very end. If she did stumble, he would catch her.

* * *

Hello!

Another Chapter is on its way...should be here sooner then the last few.

I have been working on the Kou family movie story and it should also be coming soon, so stay tuned for that. If you have any requests for that story then now is a good time to make them.

Request and review

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	34. Building Bridges

Judal and Aladdin leave the house before the sun rises. The grey morning light signals the start of another day. Everything had been packed into the car the night before, so the morning had only needed to add a few things and make coffee before locking up the house and setting the alarm. They said goodbye to the winter wonderland and moved north, beginning the return trip to Portland.

Everything was cold. Aladdin was driving again. Judal had gone to sleep much later then she had, so he wasn't fully awake yet. She took things slow, not really used to driving in the snow. It wasn't bad, she actually wasn't as nervous as she thought she would be. It was cold though, the early morning chill seeping in through the windows. She turned the heater on as high as it would go and even turned on the seat warmer. It took almost twenty minutes for the heater to really kick in though, which annoyed her greatly. It was too cold this morning. She was wearing several layers but it didn't seem to keep the cold away.

The two stayed in relative silence through the morning, sipping coffee and munching on the food Aladdin made the day before. They held off on stopping for as long as possible, trying to minimize the time it would take to get back. Aladdin didn't want to stay at another hotel if she could help it.

~~~Sinbad~~~

He met her at the restaurant downtown. He arrived first. The hostess led him to the private room in the back. She came in a few minutes later. Her dark blue hair hung down her back in a straight sheet. She wore a light pink dress that hugged all her curves nicely. He wanted to touch her. He couldn't, but he wanted to.

She greeted him warmly. They had a very romantic date. They were both experts in their own kind of seduction, and they put their skills to use. It was a game they played with one another, a game both parties greatly enjoyed. It wasn't a game Hakuei normally played, but for him she made an exception. He was special. There was just something about him.

They spent hours in the room, eating the food slowly, drinking different wines. They enjoyed each other's company. They were both experienced members of the entertainment world, they spoke of most embarrassing times, most fun times, favorite people to work with, pet peeves, and the like.

Eventually Sinbad offered his hand and led Hakuei in a dance around the room; a very up close and personal, touchy-feely dance. First in place, making a small circle then literally around the room.

~~~Solomon~~~

The blonde sitting in front of him was looking, no glaring, at his phone. It kept ringing and every ring brought about a deeper frown.

"Alibaba? Is everything alright?"

"Fine. Judal is just being a pain and I don't feel like dealing with it right now. It was funny at first, but now his possessiveness is just annoying."

"Oh, I see. Are you here to talk about Aladdin?"

"No, actually I wanted to talk to you about that offer you made."

"Really? I thought your parents weren't okay with it."

"They weren't, but I talked to them about things. I'm eighteen now anyway, so they were more open to discussion this time around. And it isn't like they could really stop me given my age anymore. But they are fine with it so long as I keep going to school. They want me to finish high school at the actual school, not homeschooling. And I still plan to go to college. So as long as I'm on as a minor artist I'll do it."

"I'm glad to hear that. I was thinking that I want you to play with Aladdin at the concert Ugo and I have been planning for her and Judal. You would need to learn all the music and come to several rehearsals, but I don't think it will take too much time. Well, at least not so much time that you won't be able to do other things."

"When do I start?"

"As soon as the two of them decide what songs they are going to preform. Since it is a collaboration we aren't showcasing an album in this concert."

Vibrating. "Seriously? This too? Solomon I have to go, Kouha is freaking out at Kougyoku again and I need to go do damage control before they start fighting and Kouen gets involved. I'll see you later."

"Good luck."

He left. Solomon now had several minor and major artists he would be able to rely on. He wasn't sure how Ugo was doing on his end. Although Ugo had many connections, some of them wouldn't stand against the influence of Sindria and Al Thamen yet, even if Alma Torran was the challenger. It was annoying but not unexpected. He was working against huge, already established competitors.

* * *

Hello! 

Another Chapter is out. I have the next few chapters written and will start editing them as soon as I have posted this chapter.

Kou family movie coming up really soon. AHHHHH!

Anyway I'm gonna go, dont forget to request and review.

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	35. Meeting and Realization

It was time to go public. Solomon made an announcement about Alma Torran's expansion. It was big news. Social media was going crazy with speculation about what artists Alma Torran was going to feature in its upcoming concert. Solomon had only said that the artists were well known and loved by many.

Sindria made a statement in reaction to Solomon's announcement. Sinbad had known it was coming and had been prepared. He announced a huge new concert featuring all of Sindria's major artists. Social media and fans went crazy. Between the two announcements, things were pretty much insane.

People were going back and forth between the two new major sets of news. Everyone was in a frenzy. No one knew who Solomon meant or why Sindria responded in such a huge way. Sindria hadn't done so with Kou or with Al Thamen.

The day passed like this, fans questioning things and making guesses about the artists with Alma Torran. No one knew what was going on. Everything was happening so suddenly.

~~~Aladdin~~~

It had been a long day. She drove the first half of the day without stopping. They took a half hour break to stretch their legs, use the bathroom, and eat lunch. Judal took over driving after that, stopping a few times to get drinks and stretch their legs again.

The trip back took them almost twelve hours. They were both exhausted. Aladdin made Judal go with her on a walk. She insisted that they both needed to stretch their legs after spending almost the entire day in the car. She made him walk with her hand in hand to Solomon's office. He was on the phone, but he hung up quickly and ran over to give Aladdin a hug.

"You look tired. How long have you been up?"

"Longer then the sun has, old man. Aladdin, can we go now? I don't know why the hell you had to drag me here."

"Because I wanted to say hi to my dad and I didn't want you to have to wait alone. Why are you being so impatient?"

"How was the drive up?"

"Fucking long, how do you think genius? Look, I'm leaving. I have to do some annoying shit tomorrow if we are really going to do this Alma Torran Label thing. I need sleep or else my head won't survive the headache tomorrow is going to be."

"But I want to see mom! I haven't talked to her face to face in a while. And you should meet her. Is she here?"

"She is on her way, actually. The driver just called and said she would be here in a few minutes. Why don't you relax on the couch while you wait? She has been dying to see you. Judal, I have the forms you asked for."

"When did you two talk?"

"While you spent the week sleeping your fever away. Just give them to me now. I was going to wait until tomorrow but since I have to be here anyway I might as well do the stupid paperwork now."

"Here, the top ones are for Al Thamen, the bottom packet is the contract draft for Alma Torran."

"Wonderful. I can't wait to read another contract. So fun. If you will excuse me I'm going to fill out this stupid shit now. Chibi, come over here and sit down."

She played with his hair while he worked. Solomon went back to work on his computer. It took fifteen minutes before Sheba came in to the room. She saw Aladdin right when she walked into the room and she ran over. She was going to pull Aladdin away from Judal to hug her, but changed half way through the motion to wrap her arms around both of them.

"Aladdin I'm so happy to see you. You're looking really well. And you must be Judal. I'm Aladdin's mom, Sheba. Welcome to the family."

"MOM!"

"What? If he is joining Alma Torran then he is part of the family!"

"Sheba, you're doing that thing again."

"Oh, sorry." She released her hold on the two and sat on the other side of Aladdin, leaving the girl sandwiched between the two. Sheba wrapped her arms loosely around Aladdin's waist, running her fingers through the ends of Aladdin's hair. Aladdin pulled Judal's hair back into her lap.

"Juju, how do you get your hair into that braid? I still can't figure it out."

Judal was still reeling from the sudden hug. 'What is with this family and their need to berate everyone with hugs? I don't even know this lady.' "Judal, Chibi, Judal. It isn't that hard to say. Your mom and I just met but she got it perfect. Hurry up and spend time with your mom so I can go sleep somewhere."

"Come with us! You can stay at our house." Solomon didn't look surprised by Sheba's offer.

"Mom?"

"What? You two just spent a month together alone, I really don't see the problem with him staying at our house. I trust you to make smart decisions now so I don't see any point in him paying to stay some place when our house is more then big enough. Why are you upset?"

"I'm not upset, I'm just confused. Well, um, okay. Judal?"

"Whatever. I just need to get this stupid paperwork done so I can send it to Ithnan. I'm really not in the mood right now. That stupid merge with Kou brought half of Al Thamen here. You better crush them old man."

Sheba laughed at Solomon's new nickname. She liked Judal so far. He seemed fine. She would talk to him later, but for now she was happy with him and with Aladdin's choice. She took one of his hands and one of Aladdin's and led them out the door calling back to Solomon who said he would head home after he finished what he was working on. Judal wasn't sure he was okay with this, but Aladdin was happy so he would just put up with it for now. She was worth the bizarre situation.

She was going to offer Judal a separate room but realized it would be a waste of breath when she saw how close Aladdin curled up to him in the car ride home. Sheba chattered away while observing Aladdin and Judal's closeness. Aladdin was curled up against Judal's side, her head leaning on his shoulder. He was playing with her hair; took it out of the braid, ran his fingers through it, and re-braided it in a style closer to his usual. He didn't look putout at all with taking on basically all of Aladdin's weight. 'They are completely comfortable with each other now. How far have they-you know what, I don't want to know'

Sheba set them up in Aladdin's old room. She wasn't really happy about them sharing a room or a bed, but she and Solomon hadn't exactly been distant in their relationship either.


	36. For Myself

Judal woke up with Aladdin snuggled in his arms, pressed against his chest. He looked over and saw Sheba moving things around in the closet. He wasn't sure what she was doing exactly. She turned around and saw him looking at her.

"Did I wake you up?"

"Yes. It's fine, don't freak out on me. I needed to get up early anyway. Have a resignation letter to write and all. Today's the day to really piss off my old manager."

"Oh, right. Well, if you need a place to work my office is all set up and I won't be in it for a while. Do you need a computer or anything?"

"No I have everything I need. Where is your office?"

"Down the hall and up the stairs, third door on your right. If you need anything I'll be in the kitchen or the laundry room. Normally we have maids do all this kind of stuff but I wanted to get back in the swing of things. I haven't done much but lay in bed for a while. Anyway, I'll leave you to it. WAIT! I want to take another picture. You two are so cute together. Look over here."

"You're kidding right?"

"No, now smile at the camera so I can go off and leave you to do whatever you need. Don't worry, I'm not going to use it for blackmail or anything, I just want to document this moment for future Aladdin."

He rolled his eyes but turned his head towards the camera so she could get her picture. She walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek and Aladdin on the forehead before leaving the room. 'What the hell just happened. Why is that woman so friendly? This family is insane.'

He took a moment to collect himself before he removed his arms from around Aladdin's body and replaced his body heat with more blankets and pillows. He looked over the still open closet to see that Sheba had added clothes for him, some of which he recognized from what he had brought back from Tahoe. He pulled off the clothes he was wearing and replaced them with fresh ones. He opted for no shoes and walked down the hall, up the stairs, and entered the office.

It was huge and well equipped. He set his laptop down on the smooth desk and booted it up. It took too long for his current amount of patience. He was about to get up and get coffee while he waited but Sheba knocked and came in, placing a steaming hot cup on the desk.

"Your laptop is pretty old."

"Yeah, well I left the good one at the Al Thamen recording studio and I don't have any intention of going back and getting it so I'll just buy a new one soon."

"Here, you can use mine. It hasn't been used in a while so it might need an update but it should work pretty well besides that. Let's see. Enter password, oh I guess Solomon has been taking care of things. Nothing needs to be updated, looks like everything is good. There you go. I'll leave you alone for real this time, unless you need something else? Do you want food or anything?"

"I'm fine, thanks. This should take me a few hours though so I may come down for a break later. Where's the old man?"

"Solomon left early this morning. He has quite a bit of work to do for the expansion. He and Ugo are going over some last minute things. I'll see you later."

She walked away from him again. He turned to the computer and opened the search engine, typing in the Al Thamen website and logging in. He opened his inbox, looking through the messages Ithnan had left briefly. Nothing looked interesting. Just a few pleads and empty threats. Judal pulled up the documents he needed and downloaded them onto the computer. He looked through a digital version of his contract then sent it to Solomon. He could deal with all the stupid lawyer shit.

He spent three hours typing up a perfect resignation letter. He wrote, edited, and reviewed it before sending it on to Ithnan. He logged out of the Al Thamen website and closed everything up. He had expected things to take longer, but once he had started the words had just seemed to flow. He had finished his coffee a while before, but he really needed food. In the kitchen he found Sheba making some kind of pasta for lunch.

"Where's Aladdin?"

"She went out."

"Well aren't you being specific. Where did she go?"

"I don't know if I'm supposed to tell you. I don't like that she went and I think you really won't like it."

"She went to Sindria?"

"I-She Uhm, yes. She went to resign. But she wanted to go alone! You can't go after her."

"Well duh. I can't fight all her battles for her. If I do then it won't mean anything. This is something she has to do alone. She needs to face her fears on her own, with her own determination to do it. I want her to do it because she wants to, not because I want her to or because she feels she can borrow my courage. She needs to do this for herself, not for me or you or anyone else."

"That's exactly what she said to me before she left. I'm surprised you're letting her go back to him so easily."

"What do you mean?"

"Sinbad came on to her. Are you really okay with her going to be alone with him?"

"Oh I'm not worried about her. She will be fine, I taught her a few things while we were away. We weren't just lazing around the whole time. We actually did stuff. And if you are insinuating that she would leave me for him then that isn't a problem. She is the only person I actually trust."

"How interesting. You sound like me when Solomon and I started spending time together. What kind of things did you two do?"

"Chibi insisted we write a song together so we did. I started fixing her horrible piano playing. I don't know who taught her but her technique was really crappy. I taught her how to protect herself from assholes like Sinbad. She had a good arm. And her aim isn't too bad either. He won't touch her again. He isn't skilled enough to keep up with her new-found fighting skill."

"You taught my baby how to fight? Isn't it dangerous?"

"Just self defense. How to get the persistent flirts like Sinbad to lay off. Or me, if I do something she doesn't like."

"You really are kind! Aladdin was right, I knew she had good judgment."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, just girl stuff. What are you planning on doing? I have lunch ready and we could go out and do something if you want."

Seriously? She wanted to go do something together? What the hell? "Sure, whatever floats your boat. I don't really have anything to do without Chibi at the moment anyway." He didn't think it wise to piss off the mom, mother bears were normally the more dangerous.

"We should go get you another computer so you can transfer all of your files before the old one crashes."

~~~Aladdin~~~

She took a deep breath before she took a step into the building. She was a little nervous, but she still walked forward, greeting or waving to people she recognized. She didn't have a disguise on so there was no confusion.

She waited in the elevator until she reached the top floor where Sinbad and Jafar as well as the other department leaders had their offices. She didn't really want to be here, but she had to do this. She took another deep breath before she knocked on the door to Sinbad's office and entered. Jafar was sitting on the edge of Sinbad's desk, looking over his shoulder at the documents laid out. Both he and Sinbad stopped when they saw it was her.

"Aladdin?"

"Hi Jafar. How have you been?"

"I've had better days, but I'm sure you could say the same. How was your vacation?"

"It was fine. I came in here to talk to Sinbad. Are you going to stay?"

"Sin? Do you want me here? I should probably leave."

"Just stay Jafar, no need to bother with formalities amongst old friends."

"We aren't friends anymore Sinbad. Don't act like nothing happened."

"Aladdin, I thought you came in here to talk about that unexcused absence you took. That wasn't a scheduled vacation."

"That isn't what I came here to talk about and you know it. I want out. Ugo sent in my resignation forms already, but I came in here to tell you in person."

"Come on Aladdin, don't do that. We can talk about this. I'll raise the percentage you get from album sales."

"This isn't about money Sinbad! You sexually harassed me! This is about my comfort in the workplace. I can't work here anymore. I'm sick of never doing anything but work. It isn't even fun anymore. And now, I don't even feel safe around you. I'm not even eighteen, I could press charges."

"But you won't. Besides, Jafar would get me out of it easily so it wouldn't get you anywhere. Although it might earn you some enemies in the business."

"Are you threatening me?"

"Not yet, but I will if I have to. You can't resign, you haven't even finished your contract yet."

"Then I will pay the five million dollar contract termination fee. I want out. Nothing you say will change my mind."

"I could very easily end your career if you walk away."

"Do it and see what happens. I don't care anymore, if I have to do this kind of thing to share my music with the world then I will go back to just sharing it with local people. This celebrity thing isn't worth the damage it has already done to me. I'm not afraid of you."

"You might not care about yourself anymore, but what about Judal? I could ruin him too."

"You are an asshole, and I don't think you could do that. Maybe to me, but not to him. And besides, that would be his battle to fight, not mine.

"Come on Aladdin, I'll make it worth your while. You should stay here, Sindria can make you the best."

"I don't need you or your company to make me the best. I never even wanted to be the best, I just wanted, want, to make people happy. I don't need anything but myself to be good, no one else can do this for me. I came here to be polite and let you know in person, and to say bye to everyone. I'm not coming back."

"Aladdin, don't do this. It will ruin you."

"Good-bye Sinbad. Bye Jafar."

She walked out with her head held high. She wasn't sure what was going to happen now, but she felt good, better then she had in a while. She was getting her confidence back, which was strange since having a company like Sindria as a backer should have been a confidence builder. When she exited the building she wasn't surprised to see Sheba and Judal waiting in a car outside the building. She smiled and climbed in, ready to face a new chapter in her life.

* * *

Hello!

How's it going?

Please Review!

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	37. Sabotage Part II

Judal logged on to his social media accounts for the first time in months. He hadn't kept up with any of them since he left Al Thamen. He started posting. Mostly just telling the people that he had resigned from Al Thamen and was moving to Alma Torran. 'That should help the old man slightly.' His fans would support Alma Torran, which should make the Sindria and Al Thamen threat a little less pressure for Solomon. He was checking through people's comments and things. They had missed him, apparently.

 _I'm so sick of the bullshit at Al Thamen. I resigned earlier. Find me at Alma Torran if you still like my music._

 _What happened?!_

 _Where have you been?_

 _I'm so glad you are back!_

 _I will lend Alma Torran my support then._

Aladdin went through each of her social media accounts. She wrote long posts and used pictures on some to alert her fans that she had left Sindria for 'personal reasons' and was moving to Alma Torran. She posted pictures of her standing in front of the new Alma Torran building. There were so many people asking for more details about why she changed, but she wouldn't indulge them. That was her business.

 _I resigned from Sindria. I don't want to go into the details; it really is just a personal matter. I'm moving to Alma Torran. I hope you will stay with me!_

 _What happened?_

 _I'll always listen to you. You r the best!_

 _Why are you leaving?_

 _What's going on?_

Judal and Aladdin fans were in a frenzy. They tried to find out why both were moving to Alma Torran from their already established companies. A new question or comment was posted almost every second. When Kouha saw all of this it made him laugh. 'Just wait till they see that all the Ren's are moving to Alma Torran too. That will really make them crazy.'

Kouha's media attacks on Sinbad continued, and they started working better now that Aladdin had left the company. Enough of Aladdin's fans were looking to blame her leaving on someone and they saw Kouha's posts and just assumed. With help from Koumei and Kougyoku this were going very well or, at least better then before. Sinbad was actually taking some hits this time.

Things were working well. Kouha liked this. Even Kouen had started his monthly bagging on Sinbad early. It helped. And, he had to admit; it was funny to see what his brother said about Sinbad and how the other reacted on his social media. This was full-out war, celebrity style.


	38. Work

Solomon was looking at the numbers Ugo had brought him. He wasn't happy. Sindria wasn't as effected as he had wanted. Sinbad didn't seem worried at all from what Solomon and Ugo had seen, either. It was frustrating, but this wasn't over yet and Solomon could be patient. He was slightly concerned, however at this point he didn't really need to worry. It was too early to tell much of anything.

Solomon had to admit that he was impressed. Sinbad had been well prepared for this. How interesting for Solomon to find a challenge. Most people he could convince to give him what he wanted relatively easily. Sinbad was ready and willing to fight him for this.

~~~Judal/Aladdin~~~

Aladdin, Ugo, and Judal were at the new recording studio. Judal was going to record a new album today. He hadn't put out any music in a while and he needed to have something to preform at concerts that were in the works for planning.

Ugo was setting things up with the help of another man, Zagan. Aladdin was surprised that Zagan hadn't told Judal off right off the bat, but for some reason Zagan gave Judal the same respect he did Aladdin. It was interesting for Aladdin to see that.

Everything started off smoothly. Judal played his own music for the first four songs they recorded. It was all guitar, with a few things added in with the computer after. Things got complicated with the fifth song, where he wanted a bunch of different sound effects in the background of the song and no music; just his singing and everyday sounds in the background. It took a really long time to get everything the way he wanted. And even when they finished, he wasn't quite happy with it. Aladdin started playing around with the background noises while he recorded the rest of the songs.

Judal was taking a break while Ugo and Zagan were finishing things up for him to listen to. He looked over at Aladdin and frowned. She had big headphones on and was messing around on one of the machines.

He lifted one side of the headphones off so she could hear him, "Chibi, what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to fix this. It didn't sound right. Hang on just a sec and then I'll play it for you." She pressed a few more buttons. "Here we go. I think this is better." She played the song through the speakers, filling the room with the difficult song. Judal's eyes went wide. This was almost exactly how he had wanted it. There were a few things different, but he actually liked it better this way. When it stopped Zagan looked impressed and Ugo was smiling. "Is that better? I think this sounds more like what you were explaining to me the other day. Is it okay Judal?"

"I think I'll keep you." He kissed her on the cheek quickly before looking at the other two "It's your job to do that. Why the hell do you have her doing your job?"

Aladdin was smiling though. He liked it. She had been a little nervous about messing with his song, but it hadn't sounded right. She tuned out the arguing between the other three, pleased with her work.

~~~Sinbad~~~

This constant media attack was wearing on his patience. It was so annoying, and he kept getting hate comments. Those siblings had really done a good job of causing him annoyances. Jafar kept telling him he needed to take countermeasures against the Rens before any real damage was done. It wasn't like he didn't agree with Jafar; he just found it slightly amusing that they were all rallying against him. At least he had at first, now it just really pissed him off.

He started with Kouha. The kid was the one that had started the media attack. He was the closest to Aladdin too. His following wasn't as big as Kouen's, but they were all extremely loyal. It was an interesting dynamic. If Kouha was going to give him shit, then he better be prepared to take it. The young boy needed to learn how strong and important connections were in this business. Sinbad had more, so he would win. And no matter how loyal some people were; rumors had a nasty way of turning people against others.

He addressed Koumei and Kougyoku next. Saying anything about Koumei was almost worthless, given he didn't really appear in the public anymore, preferring to work behind the scenes. Kougyoku was another story. She was very new, and his words against her could stop her before she ever really started. He did it anyway, not caring about what happened to any of the redheads. He had warned them, now they had to suffer the consequences.

The third thing he put out was about Aladdin. He knew what he said wasn't completely true, but it didn't matter. If she wasn't with him then she was a huge threat. He couldn't have her power help Alma Torran; otherwise Sindria could be in trouble, especially if Judal was joining Alma Torran too. He made her sound pretty horrible in his postings, but he had to. He didn't have a choice at this point. She needed to face consequences for her actions. He would get negative reactions from this particular attack as well even more then Kouha and Kougyoku, but this needed to be done.

Response to his work was immediate. Not all in his favor, but enough that it had been worth it. He was still on top.

* * *

Hello! 

How do you like things so far?

Don't forget to review.

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	39. (Almost) Calm Before the Storm

Kouha was scrambling. Kougyoku was freaking out. Sinbad had reacted to what they had been doing, and it was bad for them. Kougyoku was taking a huge hit, and Kouha wasn't far behind.

This was really bad. At this rate, Kougyoku's career was over. She didn't stand much of a chance with the bad press she was getting as a result of Sinbad's attack. She was trying to keep herself together, but she was worried. Alibaba tried to calm her down but it wasn't working. If she went to far down she would never be able to recover. She was racing to negate what Sinbad had said, but it wasn't working fast enough. He had dealt her some serious damage. She didn't know what to do anymore.

Kouha's reputation was declining quickly. Sinbad had spread some shit rumors about him. What a fucking asshole. He was working against it, but it wasn't taking. People were mad at him because of a rumor that wasn't even true. Leraje had called him crying when she had heard one of the rumors. He had spent three hours trying to get her to understand that the rumor wasn't true. Things were going downhill fast. He needed to do something before both he and Kougyoku were out of the business forever. He had known that Sinbad wouldn't take things sitting down, but he had never imagined something of this caliber, at least not for Kougyoku. He shouldn't have involved her; it had been a stupid move.

Kouha tried to help her declining reputation too, but it wasn't working. He was too far lost to really help her that much. Sinbad had really screwed them both over.

Kouen wasn't happy. In fact, he was enraged. Sinbad was causing Kougyoku and Kouha a great deal of pain. He wouldn't stand for it. He would destroy the bastard no matter what. This was not acceptable at all. He was actually glad that he was going to "mistakenly" run into the man later. The past few days had been hell for his siblings.

It was at a charity event that the meeting took place. Sinbad was supporting the organization and donating millions. Kouen had no plans to let him have a nice night. He donated more money so he would get the recognition instead of Sinbad. That would piss him off. Sinbad was all about good press for himself and for his company. He wasn't going to be happy that Kouen was taking that away for him.

He bid on everything that Sinbad did to raise the prices exponentially. He flirted with any and all of the girls Sinbad looked interested in. Sinbad's mood was visibly getting worse.

He finally greeted Sinbad at the bar.

"You seem to want to ruin my time here tonight."

"Do I? That wasn't my intention at all. How have you been? I hear that your most popular singer left you for another. How tragic." Hell yeah I'm trying to ruin your night. I would do a lot more then that if I had a choice right now.

"There are many other talented singers in the world. I already have someone to replace Aladdin."

"How callous of you. It's like you don't even care." That poor girl, no wonder Kouha was so pissed off.

"I don't. As long as Sindria is fine I will do whatever it takes." I'm warning you, don't screw with me, back off.

"How determined. Does that include devastating my family members?" Like I would back down at this point. Warn me all you want, this is war. You aren't going to get away with this so easily.

"Like I said whatever it takes." I'll destroy you too if I have to.

"Then let me make this infinitely clear to you. If you continue to mess with my siblings, I will do more then screw with your popularity in the entertainment industry. My influence extends farther then celebrities and producers. You should watch yourself. I can be very difficult when I want to be. Until then, Sinbad." I can't wait to watch you fall.

He walked away, pleased with the annoyed expression on Sinbad's face.

* * *

Hello!

Getting closer! Things are getting really interesting (at least to me.)

I'm having a lot of fun writing these chapters. I also have a few other stories I am planning on working on. The Kou family movie story will be coming up very soon. If you have any requests for stories please tell me! I want to start working on outlining other stories. The more I have planned out the easier things will be to write when I go back to school and even when I get busy right before school starts. Sooooo let me know soon if there is anything you want me to write.

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	40. This is War

Sinbad had plans for Solomon and his expansion, none of which were good. He wasn't just going to let Alma Torran overtake Sindria because they had two very popular singers and a very successful company background.

Solomon wasn't going to succeed without a fight from Sinbad. For now it seemed that Al Thamen was focusing more on increasing hype on the redhead's movie it was going to come out soon. He was standing alone against Alma Torran, but he was ready to fight. As Kouen had said last night, this is war. Solomon was threatening him and the family he had built at Sindria. He wasn't going to take that sitting down.

Sinbad pulled some strings. He was getting too much heat from the media attacks and the expansion. He wasn't in a position right now to go against Solomon as he was. He had to call in some favors. It was a good thing he had friends in high places. All three of the contacts he had called in earlier for support were now set to attack Solomon and his company. Quite a bit of bad press was spread.

Sinbad's attack had Solomon and Ugo scrambling. Sinbad had **really** good connections. Solomon hadn't anticipated this much backlash yet. He and Ugo had both been preparing to upstage the huge concert Sindria had been advertising, not a full-scale attack on Alma Torran from big names in the industry. Not to this extent, at least. Solomon and Ugo had been very well prepared, and Sheba had triple checked and reinforced everything. Sinbad was just good, frighteningly so. Solomon really was in trouble at this point.

It was late at night. The concert was coming up really soon and things were going poorly. He and Ugo were both frantically trying to deal with Sinbad's attacks and finish preparations. Normally Solomon would only be overseeing these things, but until he found more people who he really trusted to get things done he was taking care of it. So much depended on this concert. He needed it to go well to secure the contracts with the Ren siblings and all the connections that came with them. But to do that, he needed to somehow negate what Sinbad had done to them as well as Aladdin.

He brought Paimon over from her usual department to help out here. Ugo was working way too much and he wasn't doing much better. He had Amon working on all legal aspects. It just wasn't enough right now. He was tempted to have Sheba help more, but he didn't want her to overdo it. Sinbad had played his cards perfectly.

"Solomon, let me help. You are working too hard."

"Sheba, I don't want you to get sick again. You need to take things easy. Ugo and I can-"

"She is my daughter too, Solomon. You aren't the only one who wants to make him pay. Tell me what you need help with and I will do it. I promise I won't do too much, but you need help and I can do more." She pulled his hand to her lips. "You keep staying up all night. You only sleep for an hour or so every day. Let me help more. What do you need me to do? I said I wanted to be a family again and I meant it. That means we work together. Don't do everything on your own."

His arms wrapped around her. "I know Sheba, I'm just worried about you."

"I will be fine. I know my limits. I can do this. Let me help you help our daughter and her little lover."

"Don't remind me. I act like it's okay but I really am worried about that."

"Oh, she is fine. Have you ever seen them together? It's adorable."

"Yeah, they never stop touching."

"She said he likes physical contact. That was actually my advice. Oh, I have pictures. Look." She showed him the pictures she had taken of the two of them in bed the first morning, at lunch, in the car, cooking together, singing together, and coming home from the recording studio after Judal recorded his first album with Alma Torran.

"SHEBA!"

"It's fine, he isn't going to hurt her."

"How do you know that? We don't know him well enough to be sure. I don't want to say anything when she is finally letting me in again, but it worries me how close they are."

"I talked to him the other day. You should have heard him talking about how he taught Aladdin some self-defense. It was really cute; you had to be there. He taught her self-defense so something like what Sinbad did won't happen again."

"Yeah, maybe with someone who doesn't know what he knows, but if he taught her then he must know more then she does. **He** can still do something."

"Didn't sound like he taught her just to protect her from other men, it sounded like he was teaching her to protect herself from any man, himself included. I thought it was really sweet. I trust him."

"Not you too."

"What do you mean?"

"Ugo already trusts him. And her friends trust him too, to some extent."

"Really?"

"Kouha and Alibaba say he can be a pain in the ass but they seem to trust him with Aladdin, Kouha more so then Alibaba but still."

"Don't worry about it Solomon. Aladdin is a great judge of character."

"I know. I trust her. I just don't like the whole boyfriend thing."

"You are such an overprotective father. It's adorable."

"I love you, you know."

"I love you too. Now let me help. He declared war on us, let's return the favor somehow. At least let me help organize the concert."

"And we were having such a nice little moment."

* * *

Hello!

Ohh myyy gooooodness. I had a lot of fun writing this with Sheba and Solomon.

Please REVIEW!

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	41. I Love You

Chibi wasn't a good dancer. No that wasn't exactly true, it wasn't like she was a bad dancer. She was definitely better then those shit dancers Al Thamen had had him working with. It was more like she didn't have the right rhythm, she wasn't used to moving her body like that. Her movements weren't smooth like they needed to be, they were jerky. At least she was coordinated enough to pick up the choreography for the dance. They had spent the last week learning all the choreography for the concert, but she was just all jerky with her movements. Judal was determined to change that; he would not have her being all clumsy up on strange in front of so many people.

She and Judal were working together in her room. She had asked him to help her after she watched the video Sheba had recorded of the two of them practicing earlier. She had been so horrible! It was like she had two left feet. There was no way she was going to do that up on stage when Judal was so good at it. She was trying to do the movement for one of the dances so he could critique her. Her hips wouldn't move like Judal's though, they didn't have that smooth movement. The whole belly-dancer dance was the one she was worst at. They had already been working on this dance for an hour. It was so frustrating. He was a guy! How was he better at this then her?

"Judal, this isn't working. I can't do it. This isn't working. My body just doesn't move like that."

"Chibi, you can definitely do this. There is no way in hell I am letting you go on stage without being good at this dance."

"But we have been working for an hour and I haven't gotten any better! The others didn't take this long. What am I supposed to do now?"

"Have you ever been to a high-school dance?"

"Yes. What does that have to do with this?"

"Didn't you see the grinding circles and all the obnoxious couples that get too close for public comfort? Or did you go to some lame-ass school where all the kids are boring as hell?"

"Yeah, there was some of that. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Did you ever do any of that?"

"No. Seriously, why is this important?"

"It's basically the same movement. Just without someone behind you. Here, just, you know what, screw this. Come here." She moved closer to him and he stood behind her. His hands rested on her hips so he could guide her. It was going to be incredibly awkward if her parents or Ugo walked in but she really did need to figure this out. "Just stay with me. Match my movements, okay?"

"Yeah. I can do that. This is kinda weird."

"Just shut up and do it. It isn't **that** weird considering we have slept in the same bed and your parents are fine with us doing that."

Judal put he song on repeat. She needed to get used to moving to this beat. He led her hips around, making her match his own movements. Her hips moved in time with his, but it wasn't as smooth a movement. She was still all jerky. He forced her to move smoother with his hands. He made her dance like this while the song played over and over. It repeated ten times before he didn't need to correct her anymore, she was finally moving smoothly. After the eleventh round, he stopped their little dance.

"Why did we stop?"

"Because you can move without looking like a robot now. Time to apply what you have learned to the actual choreography."

"Are you sure?"

"You have to try it sometime. I'm not dancing with you on stage if you look like a robot, so don't waste my time."

He turned the music back on and started the dance. It was easier for her this time. She didn't feel so awkward. She felt more confident this time, not as clumsy. He stopped half way through to watch her dance. It looked much better this time. Not good enough quite yet, but much better. This he could work with. Now she just needed to get used to moving like this; needed to practice the dance a hundred more times to imprint it onto her memory so that it would be easy on stage. He could definitely make her practice the stupid dance a hundred times in the next few days before the concert. He was glad she hadn't fought him on the movements like those other idiot dancers had, it made things so much easier.

"I love you, Chibi." She blushed.

~~~Sinbad~~~

"It's my turn to plan a date. You planned the last ten, and even before that you only let me choose the movie we saw, not the place or the time. You better let me do this."

"I just don't understand why you want to. Isn't it more fun to be surprised?"

"I like planning things. And you should enjoy the surprise too. Let me do something for a change! You always pamper me, let me return the favor for once! Don't be so selfish."

"Fine, fine. You plan the date. Whatever you want to do, I'll be ready for anything."

"Meet me at Andina in an hour. And dress appropriately please, I'm not going to be the only one dressed formally this time too."

"Peruvian? Interesting. That will be good, I haven't been there for a while. And that was funny."

"It was not funny. You were in jeans and a tee shirt while I was in a formal gown at an extremely posh restaurant. I get that everyone there lets you do whatever you want but it felt wrong."

"Alright. I'll see you there. And I'll wear a suit, okay? Bye."

Hakuei arrived first. She was a few minutes early, but the host knew her and led her to the room she had reserved. Sinbad arrived right on time. Dinner went smoothly. Peruvian was different from their usual places. It went well though, she and Sinbad went back and forth teasing and joking with each other. After dinner they entered the limo Hakuei hired.

"You have to wear a blindfold."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want you to know where we are going until we are there. It's very important that this is a surprise. I want to see your face when you see where we are. I spent a lot of time planning this."

"You called me two and a half hours ago. It wasn't that long."

"I have been planning this for weeks. I just didn't tell you until today. Would you stop correcting me and just do what I say."

"Go ahead then. Put the blindfold on." She did. He couldn't see a damn thing. Not that it mattered; if she really wanted to surprise him then he wasn't going to stop her.

She talked to him while they drove. Wherever they were going took forty-five minutes to get to. She opened the door and led him out by the arm. They were outside for less then a minute before they entered another building. She led him into an elevator and down what he assumed was a hallway before stopping him in front of a chair and telling him to sit down. He didn't know where they were. It smelled familiar though. Not that that was much help, he had been to most public places in Portland at this point.

"Feels like my kind of place."

"I'm positive it is. I really like it here. We should have fun." She leaned against him.

"I love you. You are so thoughtful." She just smiled and leaned into him more.

* * *

Hello Everyone!

I have been very unmotivated to do this story. I don't know why. I posted a bunch of chapter the other day and now I feel really lazy. I need more motivation.

Anyway, on a different note, I have re-written The Revival of the Magi Clan. I like it better now. It is closer to how I originally wanted the story to go. I would really appreciate it if you would check out that story too.

As for the Ren family movie, I'm having a slight problem. There are a few bits of information I need that I can't fill in. If anyone has any ideas or thoughts about that story please let me know. I tend to be inspired by other people's ideas. Gets my creativity flowing.

Ummmmmmmmmm...I don't know what else to say. Oh! I'm also working on a short story with Kouen and Aladdin so that should start getting posted soon. It really is just for fun, I felt the need to write something with them after I read a really cute story with them in it the other day. I can't find it now and it is frustrating me. I spent almost an hour trying to find it again. It wasn't on this site otherwise I would've favorited it. I should have bookmarked the website but that would require thinking ahead and that isn't something I do while on the internet.

I'm so mad I can't find that story again.

What do you guys think about a story with a female Judal instead? I want to write one, but at the same time I'm not sure about it. It's hard for me to picture.

I'm rambling now so i'm going to go. Please don't forget to review! And please please please, i'm begging you, check out the other story. It's taken me so long to plan out and get organized. If people don't read it i'm going to be very sad.

:P

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	42. How Do You Love Someone

It was time. Aladdin and Judal walked onto stage as the curtain rose. The crowd went wild. The applause was so loud! Aladdin was giddy with excitement and Judal felt the still familiar rush of performance starting to wash over him once again. He had missed this. It was nice. Aladdin spoke first. She addressed the crowd, talking a bit about Alma Torran's expansion. Judal picked up where she dropped off. They talked about themselves and what they had been doing. The crowd made noises to express what they felt as Judal and Aladdin went back and forth talking to them. This was as much an explanation as it was a show for the audience's entertainment.

This was the very first place Aladdin had performed as an artist for Sindria, and the last place Judal had performed in the U.S. before he had gone on that horrible European tour. To them, this place was historic.

~~~Sinbad~~~

That voice made him cringe. Hakuei had taken his blindfold off as the curtain had started rising and she kissed him to pull his attention away. He pulled away from her when he heard Aladdin's voice though. This was **not** good. Why had she brought him here? He listened to Aladdin and Judal talking. He didn't want to be here. Maybe she was just clueless. She hadn't seemed like it up to this point, but it could have been an act. It was hard to tell with some celebrities.

"Is something wrong, Sinbad?"

"Don't worry about it, it's nothing."

"Tell me."

"Well, Aladdin just left Sindria so seeing her so soon stings a little."

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize it mattered to you."

"Of course it does. I worked quite closely with her for a while. It almost feels like a betrayal that she left me for another."

"Isn't her father the leader of Alma Torran? It doesn't seem like that much of a surprise that she moved from Sindria to Alma Torran."

"It isn't just that. We were friends until recently. It feels weird not to have been warming up with her beforehand." Hakuei laughed. "What's funny?"

"Just the things you are saying. I mean really? A betrayal? Friends? You really are a pedophile. I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt, but everything everyone else said was true. Unbelievable. You are truly a sick and despicable person."

"Hakuei, what are you talking about? What are you doing?"

"This is how I express my love."

"You have a very strange way of expressing your love. I can't say this is the most effective method ever used on me."

"Oh, I'm sorry. It seems you have misunderstood what I was saying. My love isn't for you, it's for Aladdin. This is my way of repaying her for everything she has done for me. Even though I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt, I planned to do this from the very beginning. You hurt her, and there was no way I would let you get away with that."

"You played me?" It hurt; he had actually liked her.

"Of course. This is the first time I've ever done something like this, but I'm willing to help Aladdin any way I can. Kouha's methods weren't subtle enough for my taste. For someone like you my approach is much more effective. I'm sorry to have hurt you so badly, but you almost sent Aladdin over the edge. I watched her go from a bright light to a dim one in just a few months of working with you. You did so much to hurt her, I just couldn't help it."

"I can't believe this. You were so **kind**."

"I am kind. You are just an exception; so special. And you didn't just hurt Aladdin, you hurt my family too."

"Your family?"

"Those "stupid redheads" you have been attacking are my cousins. My last name is Ren too. And you were thinking that **I** was clueless when you saw that this is where I brought you. Look who's clueless now."

"This is ridiculous. I don't understand why you would-"

"I just explained it to you. Family sticks together. I started seeing Aladdin as my little sister a long time ago, and the rest of my family is important to me too. Just watch and see Sinbad. We are going to destroy you and there is nothing you can do about it."

"You won't win. I've been in this business longer than any of your siblings have. Solomon doesn't stand a chance, and in a few minutes your family will be done for too. Don't be so smug, Miss Ren. It isn't over yet."

"We will see. I wonder whose family is stronger, mine or yours. I wish you luck in this war you have declared."

Sinbad's body shook with anger and hurt. He had been played by this woman. He had truly fallen for her and she had thrown it all back in his face. Well, if that was how she wanted to play so be it. Two could play at this game. He sent a text out. It was time to destroy the competition.


	43. How Far We Have Come

The concert was going really well. The crowd got louder and louder as the concert went on. Aladdin and Judal were tired though. They were supposed to perform almost twice the normal amount of songs.

The dancing was good. They didn't have full dances for all the songs, which helped them both to conserve a little energy. Aladdin had fun dancing so much. She liked moving around the stage with Judal by her side. It made her feel confident. He liked the energy she gave off when she felt that way. It was like he was seeing her in a whole new way. He caught Hakuei's smile out of the corner of his eye but couldn't spend more then a second looking at her. He lifted Aladdin into the air one last time before the song ended. He set her microphone back on its stand and pulled his to his mouth one last time to say they were taking a ten-minute break, replaced by a group Solomon had taken on as minor artists. The two left the stage and entered the dressing rooms in the back. Aladdin drank tea and changed into her next costume. Paimon touched up her makeup as Judal walked into her room holding a bottle of water and his phone. He was wearing a costume that matched hers. Arabian themed costumes, they had really baggy pants and short shirts. Aladdin's was blue and Judal's was black. They looked cute together.

"Chibi, Sinbad made another move."

"What do you mean? What did he do?"

"He royally screwed us. Look, it will be easier for you to just read it."

Her face went from mildly concerned to downright pissed in a minute. "How could he do this? He is going to destroy all of us at this rate. The Ren family, you, me, dad, everyone! We can't let this happen. Juju what do we do?" Sinbad's latest attack would bury all of them. He had created a huge, scandalous story. None of them stood a chance. It was bad.

"He really did a good job at making this an impossible situation. We could save everyone, but it isn't going to be pleasant."

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, Chibi. Don't worry. I'll do it. You just stand beside me at the end of the concert, okay? I can't do this by myself. Not this time."

"I'll always be with you. But this time you aren't going to fight alone. I'll fight with you. It's my war too, and this is a battle that needs us both. Neither of us should do this alone. But at this point I can't let myself pull so many others down. I'll do it."

"Mine will hold more weight."

"Mine was more recent. We do this together." She kissed him on the cheek and then grabbed his hand and dragged him back to the stage. Alibaba was playing music with the band. She felt better knowing he was there too. He made her feel even safer. Judal leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"Hakuei is here too. Kouha, Koumei, Kouen, and Kougyoku are up there too. Morgiana and Hakuryuu are out there somewhere. Don't worry, Chibi. We won't let you down, so don't go to that dark place again."

She looked at him. "How did you know?"

"I just do. Don't go there. We are all here for you. Even that annoying Alibaba is allowed to be your support for today, but only today. Tomorrow you are all mine again, got it?"

She giggled. "Of course Judal. Let's go!"

They were back on stage again. First the belly-dancer dance. Then another song with a sort-of seductive note. The third was a song Judal had written a long time ago but never used, it had only needed a few tweaks to make it a good duet. The last song was the song they had written together. 'Depravity' was the best song they sang together. It got a standing ovation.

The crowd kept clapping, waiting for the two to take their last bow and leave the stage. They didn't though. They waited for the crowd to stop clapping. It took almost ten minutes for relative-silence to return. Aladdin started the talking this time.

"Hi everyone! I'm really glad you all came out to see us tonight. I hope you all liked the show. Most of those songs were written for us to sing individually and we just rearranged them. That last song was different though. We wrote it together recently."

* * *

Hey Everyone!

It's been a while...sorry about that. I honestly was having some problems figuring out how I wanted to do this chapter and the upcoming ones. I had something written, but I really didn't like the way I wrote it and ended things, so I redid some things. :D.. Thanks for the patience.

While figuring that stuff out I was able to post quite a few other things. Check out that if you are interested.

I had a lot of fun when given a prompt and writing Frozen, so if anyone else has any requests please let me know!

Hopefully I will get out the next chapter sooner :P

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	44. Dirty Little Secret

"The song is based on our personal experiences. It's our story. We needed a way to express this that wasn't quite so depressing as letting everyone know about our inner demons. But we don't really have a choice anymore."

The crowd was confused. Everyone was shouting out questions. People watching the televised version of the concert were asking questions and yelling at their T.V.'s. It was chaos.

"Please, everyone please calm down. We can't clear up anything if you can't hear what we are saying. If you would please be patient for a little while longer then we will tell you what you want to know. But I'm going to start with what happened during the break. Then I'll explain why I left Sindria. Please just stay calm for a little while longer. It is a really long story and it is a little uncomfortable for me to talk about." She gave Hakuei a look when she finally found her. She saw Kouen too; he was standing behind a very tense Sinbad. They had him cornered. Good, he should be here for this. He shouldn't be allowed to leave. "At the beginning of the concert, Sinbad posted a story that is threatening the careers of many of my friends and family. It has already started working, and it will destroy all of us if you let it, if you fall for it. What he posted isn't true. Everything he has posted about the Ren's and Judal and Solomon and I over the past few days hasn't been true. He is trying to bring us all down."

"Sinbad only cares about Sindria and its success. He is threatened by everyone Aladdin just said and so before we can really do anything that could hurt him he is trying to take us down."

"I never really wanted to talk about this, but I don't have any choice. My friends and family were dragged into this because of a decision I made. I can't let them get hurt because of me. Ever since I joined Sindria I haven't really felt like myself, and every day I spent with them, that feeling of wrongness just kept getting worse. It got to a point where I was so worried and self-conscious that I was going to some serious extremes. I was barely eating or sleeping and I spent all my free time in the gym. I didn't spend very much time with my friends or family either. I felt so alone. It was horrible. Sometimes it felt like the hole in my chest was some huge weight and I couldn't breathe. Don't worry, I'm better now, but I couldn't help myself then. I was so unhappy and so messed up inside. I just kept working more and more to make Sinbad happy, but it was never enough. Then I met Judal and we spent time together. I felt better when I spent time with him, when we practiced music together or went out to do things together. I didn't feel so alone anymore. Sinbad didn't like that though. He didn't want me to spend time with Judal. He said a bunch of things about Judal that weren't true, but I didn't listen to him. He wasn't happy about that. One day, I was supposed to meet Judal in a park before going shopping. I ran into Sinbad there." Her eyes took on a far-away look. She wasn't in the theater anymore; she was in the park again. "We talked for a little while and it seemed normal at first. But after a few minutes, I got this weird feeling. I was really nervous. Something was off. He got this weird look on his face, I think he saw Judal walking up behind me, and then he kissed me. I-it-I"

"It's okay Chibi. That's enough. Basically the asshole touched her without her permission. That's what this is all about. He is getting back at her for quitting. And she quit because he made her uncomfortable. He did that because I was spending time with her, and he doesn't like me."

The crowd was angry. They were all fans of the two on the stage. They were mad at Sinbad and it was apparent in their shouts.

"Would you all shut up so I can finish talking? There is more, and it isn't pretty. I really don't want to talk about this and I definitely am not going to talk about this if you are all trying to shout over me." Pause. Silence fell over the room. "Much better. A while ago I went on tour in Europe. I met Sinbad at a hotel in Switzerland while I was locked out of my room. I was waiting for my manager to bring me my room key. It was really freaking cold. Stuff happened and time passed. Eventually Sinbad found me outside. He talked to me and convinced me to join him in his room. I did, and it was probably the biggest mistake of my life. He seduced me and I fell for it. I fell for him. I let him touch me. I was underage but it didn't matter to him and I sure as hell didn't care at that point. He made me promises; not one of which he kept. He just kept using me for his pleasure then left me for the next person. I didn't even matter to him. He didn't care about me at all. I was just a toy. Everything I felt for him meant nothing because he just walked out on me; he disappeared and left me a note. One of the promises he made me was that he would get me away from Al Thamen and take me on as a major artist in Sindria without having to wait for my contract to end. He left me a note that said I should contact him when my contract with Al Thamen was up and he would take me on then. I did that too, I clung on to the hope that he hadn't lied to me, that he had really just been unable to keep his promise because Al Thamen was well prepared. Well, that wasn't the case. He denied my request to become an artist at Sindria when I contacted him."

"And now he is trying to save himself by calling in his connections in the industry. He is trying to ruin anyone who is trying to help me. Please don't fall for it."

"To be blunt, he is an asshole who likes to molest underage people. He doesn't care about anyone so long as he gets what he wants and his company profits."

"I don't really know what else to say. At least now you know the truth. That's all I can do really. It's not like I can convince you to do something you don't want to, but at least you know what really happened to us."

Aladdin gave a little bow then followed Judal off the stage. Her hands were shaking but she felt better. She wasn't hiding anymore, for better or worse. Everyone knew the dirty little secret both she and Judal had.

* * *

Hello!

I feel like it has been a very long time since I last updated. I don't think it has been, but I have been doing so much stuff the past few days I really can't remember the last time I updated.

So The story is coming to a close. Not sure how I feel about it almost being over. IF you haven't yet, check out the Ren Family Movie. I also plan to put up some little side stories with dates or whatever between Kougyoku/Alibaba, Morgiana/Hakuryuu, Solomon/Sheba, and Aladdin/Judal.

Let me know you think in a review :D

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


	45. And Then

It's been three days since the concert. Since the riots broke out. There was so much confusion and anger going around about this. So many people were loyal to Sinbad, but so many were against him. It was complete chaos. Online articles were written, huge threads of discussion on social media, conspiracy theories.

After the concert Aladdin hadn't ben able to control her shaking. She clung on to Judal like her life depended on it. Solomon was so shocked at what he heard. He hadn't expected Aladdin to talk about such things, and he sure as hell hadn't expected Judal to have a story to share.

Alma Torran released a statement the next morning, followed shortly by a statement from Sindria. Both claimed they were right and the other was stating nonsense. Unfortunately for Sinbad two stories from beloved celebrities held a lot more weight then his defense.

Followers of the Ren family took sides with Alma Torran, finally understanding what their favorite celebrities had been talking about. Kouha and Hakuei both announced their contract change from Al Thamen to Alma Torran after the statements were released. Kouen, Kougyoku, and Koumei waited until the second day before switching.

The third day Al Thamen and Sindria both started working together to do something about Alma Torran but they didn't have much of a chance. Solomon had played his cards well. He won. Sinbad didn't have a chance of recovering from this loss any time soon.

Solomon announced a charity concert featuring all the new artists at Alma Torran to be preformed in three months.

Aladdin was happy again. She couldn't stop smiling and laughing. Alibaba and Morgiana had joined her in the business, although they weren't working at her level right now. Hakuryuu had finally been convinced to join. She had a very long conversation with Kouen about history where she found out he wasn't as scary as he seemed, just had a very serious face. She liked spending time with Koumei, both of them being rather respectful people. Kougyoku and she had their differences, but Aladdin still loved that they got to spend more time together. She and Kouha couldn't stop talking.

Best of all, she got to be with Judal. All the time. She could work with him as much or as little as she wanted. Same with everyone else. Kouen, Kougyoku, Kouha, Judal, and Aladdin were all taken on as 'idols,' the name the company gave to those who regularly worked in more then one area of the business. She started modeling in a shoot with Kouha and Judal. Hakuei came in as a surprise guest. She and Kouen were supposed to start working on a film together soon. Judal would be in it too but he was playing the enemy. She and Kougyoku were going to try to make some music together, with the help of Hakuryuu, Alibaba, and Morgiana.

Aladdin was herself again. Sheba watched over her daughter as she became that shining light she used to be.

If she had to choose someone, Sheba guessed that Judal wasn't such a bad son-in-law.

* * *

Hello!

I want to thank everyone for sticking around as I wrote this story. I had a lot of fun even though there were some times I had to rewrite chapters eleven times (yes, I actually counted)

Let me know what you thought of the story. What do you want to see in terms of new stories? I'm sad to see this end but also happy at how well it did.

:D Thanks for reading!

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna


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